The New Girl
by Pamdizzle
Summary: COMPLETE! That's right! It's nearly complete. C'mon, check it out if you haven't already! Sequel to 'The Intern and the Orton'. read that one first if you will. ReneOC. Just try it! c'mon, what's the harm, eh? COMPLETE!
1. Prologue

Hey!!! I'm back!! This is a sequel of sorts to The Intern and the Orton. There's going to be an entirely new couple featuring another original OC and a superstar of my choosing as well as a continuation of Randy and Annie, although somewhat in the background. LOL. This is too much fun lol. I thought about not writing another one, but damn it I couldn't do it! Ya'll seemed to be against that idea anyway, so I listened to your votes, and so now this is what I've come up with. 

Well, here it is. Keep in mind, I'm still new at this, so try to stick with me while I get a feel for this new story, okay? That's all I ask, lol.

The New Girl

Prologue

Rosalyn Bryant sat nervously across the desk from none other than Vincent and Stephanie McMahon. Her young heart felt as though it was going to explode in her chest. She had just revealed her actual age to them. She had stated that she was 21 in the résumé she had submitted a month earlier with a copy of a sample of her writing. 

Now that she had revealed her age, she was very, very scared of being rejected. Not only because of her age, but also because of the fact that she had lied to Vincent McMahon in her résumé, and he wasn't looking to happy about it at the moment. She sighed and braced herself for a big 'Get the Hell out of my office.'

"Eighteen?" Vince questioned her in disbelief.

She cleared her throat, determined not to show that she was terrified. "Yes. I know my résumé says otherwise, however, I felt that if you knew how young I was, you wouldn't' even bother to look at my writing."

Stephanie had a worried look on her face. She really wanted to hire this girl. She was young, but her writing was excellent despite her age. None of the other writers had the kind of vision she saw in this girl's writing. She definitely showed great potential.

Vince's expression, however, was more complex. He didn't like being lied to, but he had to admit, she was good. "It would seem I'm a bit conflicted as to what to say to you, Miss Bryant. I could very well rip up this résumé and the story along with it. I don't approve of being lied to or introduced under false information."

He paused and noticed the apprehensive look on her face. He could tell that she expected him than to throw her out right on her ass. He then smiled, "However, I commend your ability. I have to admit, to a certain degree, you were correct in assuming that your submission may have been ignored for a time if you had been honest." He paused and let out a breath, "Now that I've read it, I must say, I don't want your talent going to waste somewhere else."

Rosalyn's eyes widened when he stood up and extended his hand, "Welcome to the WWE," he said with authority, yet in a welcoming tone.

"Thank you so much, Mr. McMahon. I swear I won't let you down. You won't regret this, I promise," Rosalyn swore as she jumped up and shook Vince's hand.

"Good, but just one more thing before I hand you over to Stephanie," Vince added.

"Yes, sir?"

"No more lies, got it? I like to think I have honest employees. Although I understand your plight this time, don't make it a normality to keep vital information from me or your other superiors. Understood?"

"Yes, completely."

"Good," Vince turned toward Stephanie and waved her over, "I leave you to my daughter now. Good luck. You'll be working for Raw's writing team. I'll see you around." And with that, Vince left the two women.

Stephanie flashed a smile of approval, "Well, that went better than I expected. You're really only eighteen?"

"Ya-I mean yes…" she looked around, unsure of how to speak to her superior.

Stephanie gave her a sweet smile, "Relax. You can be yourself now. I know how you feel. Just calm down. Everything will be fine, you'll see."

Rosalyn let out a breath of relief, "Sorry, I'm just…nervous. I didn't think he was going to hire me."

"Why wouldn't he?"

"Well, the age thing, and the fact that I lied about it on my résumé."

"Well, I for one, don't care if you're 18 or 187, your writing speaks for itself. I'm glad you'll be on the creative team," she paused and took Rosalyn by the arm, "C'mon, I'll show you around and tell you everything there is to know."

"Thank you Ms. McMahon," Rosalyn said, still nervous.

Stephanie stopped in her tracks and began to laugh, "Listen, Rosalyn, first of all, I'm married. It's Stephanie Levesque now, so if you were to address me formally it'd be Mrs. Levesque, Okay? And second, call me Stephanie, you're going to me working _with_ me more than you are going to be working _for_ me."

Rosalyn breathed relief again, "Okay, and by the way, you can call me Rose or Rosie, everyone does."

"Okay, then let's get going Rosie, we've got a lot of things to cover today."

~~~

Rose lay down her bed with a huff. It was eleven o'clock and she was beat. She went over everything she'd be doing. She had to be at every Raw event and at every pay per view. Her first day would be tomorrow. She was to be shown around by…'Who am I supposed to meet tomorrow?' she asked herself as she reached for her purse.

She pulled out the folded piece of paper she had wrote the name on. 'Oh yah…' she thought as she read the name on the paper, 'Breanne Davis.' She hoped everything went smoothly on her first day. She was excited and scared at the same time.

She remembered how she had started writing. She was twelve years old and writing poems about love, death, and the pain she felt. She had lived in a foster home since the day she was born. She had never known, nor cared to know her true parents. She moved from home to home not caring where she was going, so long as she had pen and paper.

She had caught an episode of Raw one night at one the homes when she was twelve. She had instantly become addicted to the sport, the adrenaline rush she got as she watched, and most of all, the storylines. Since that night, becoming a writer for the WWE became her goal.

Rose sat back and thought about all the times she had considered submitting a résumé and a sample, and had decided not to. Not only because of her age, but also because of her lack of experience working for somewhere. She had finally decided to go through with it a few months after she turned eighteen.

She knew the chances of her submission earning her an interview were not likely, and so getting the job was even less likely. So she had altered her resume in order for them to read her story, and it had worked. Today she had achieved her goal, and in only six years. 

Here she was, an eighteen year old college freshman, who a month ago was struggling to pay her bills, now a creative writer for the WWE. She could hardly grasp the concept, much less accept it. She laughed out in joy. She would be traveling, seeing the country, and leaving her dumpy apartment behind. She was determined to make a new, better life for herself. She would continue her education, but it would have to be online. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'online is better than none at all.' She wasn't so foolish as to cease her education. She wanted to earn a degree, and she would.

She had always been independent, in a way. The only thing she relied on the foster homes for was a roof over her head. She had been working since the age of fifteen, and winning a number of writing and art awards all throughout elementary and high school. 

Everyone always thought she was wasting her time. That she would never be able to find a career in writing. She had vowed to herself to keep trying and finally, her work was going to pay off. She was going to make it, and she was going to do it counting on no one else than herself. 

"A one woman army," she smiled to herself before she got up to take a shower and get ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be the best day of her young life. She was going to prove everyone in her past wrong. She was going to make something of herself. 

~~~

A phone rang out in a darkened hotel room. Two sleeping forms groaned when they heard the noise, "Why don't you get that?" the woman asked the man next to her.

"Because it's your phone," he mumbled as he turned over on his side and went back to sleep with an evil grin on his face.

The woman let out a groan, "Stupid man," she griped as she reached out and grabbed her ringing cell phone. "Hello?" 

She recognized the voice on the end of the phone, "Stephanie? Yah, it's me."

"Were you sleeping?" Stephanie asked.

"Yah, both of us were, now only one of is," she sighed as she shot a look at the lazy man on the other side of the bed. It wasn't the look she had meant to send, a mean and scornful one, rather, it was loving and smiling.

"Oh, well, there's no rest for the weary, you know that!"

"Yah, I know. So, what did you need?"

"Well, I have an assignment for you on your first night back. Breanne, I need you to show around a new writer before Raw tomorrow. Are you free?"

"Yah, I'm free."

"Good, so how's the legend killer?" Stephanie asked with a small laugh.

"He's fine."

Stephanie paused for a minute. She had been dying to ask this question, and now that the business of this phone call was over, "Hey, what's this big surprise you two have in store for everyone tomorrow, eh? Paul really wants to know."

Annie heard Paul's laughter, "Don't believer her Annie. She's the nosey one. It's all her." She then heard a smack and an "ouch," that definitely had to be Paul's.

Annie shook her head, "I'd tell you, but Randy swore me to secrecy. You'll just have to wait until tomorrow just like everyone else."

Stephanie rolled her eyes, "Alright, alright. I'll let you go. Get some sleep."

"I intend to. See ya tomorrow, Steph," Breanne said as they hung up.

Annie rolled over to her side and wrapped her arms around Randy. She couldn't wait to tell everyone the news, nor could she wait to meet the new writer. Her first day back seemed like it was going to be an adventure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, well, I hope you guys like it so far!!! Please tell me what you think, I love reviews, as you well know, lol!!! I hope to have the next chapter up before next Monday! 

Pammi


	2. Many Meetings

YAY!!!! I'm so glad to see a lot you back to reviewing my new story!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!! LOL. Anyway, here's chapter one!!!

Chapter One: Many Meetings

Rose walked down the halls of the backstage area. She was trying to find Ms. Davis' office. She was given directions by Stephanie, but she was sure she must have taken a wrong turn. She let out a sigh, defeated, but quickly regained hope when she saw someone coming her way. She squinted her eyes. It was Rene Dupree. 

"Excuse me!" She said as loud as she could without yelling, but he just kept walking. 'Maybe he didn't hear me…or maybe he didn't think I was talking to him,' she thought to herself, but as she looked around, she noticed that they were the only two in the hallway. She decided to try again, "RENE!!" That got his attention.

"Yes?" he asked in a bit of a perturbed tone. He had just found out that he wouldn't be wrestling tonight, hell, he wasn't even in the show at all. He was in a pretty foul mood.

Rose noticed his attitude, but continued anyway. She'd be damned if she was going to recoil from some **_man_**, "I'm trying to find Breanne Davis' office and I got lost somehow. Could you point me in the right direction?" She asked sweetly, her temper cooling a bit as she looked at him. He didn't seem like a mean guy. He seemed like he could be a pretty cool person, but he had yet to speak and prove her right.

Rene cleared his throat and gave her a smirk and a snort as he pointed at the door that was right behind her. He then rolled his eyes and walked off. "They really need to start hiring **_competent_** help around here," he mumbled as he stalked off, just in earshot of Rosalyn.

"Excuse me? What did you just say?" she turned to face his retreating form, but he didn't turn. He just kept walking, ignoring her. 'So much for being a nice guy. Can't judge a book by it's cover, I guess.' Rose rolled her eyes and turned back to the task at hand. She raised her hand to knock on the door, but just as she did, the door flew open and Randy Orton was right in her face. She was taken by surprise, he had startled the shit out of her.

He laughed at her expression then realized that this must be the new girl. "Hey babe?" he called toward Annie, "I think the new writer is here," he turned back to Rose, "Well, come on in, she's a little vicious sometimes, but she won't bite," he laughed as he led her into the room.

"That is _not_ funny Randy," Annie tried to sneer, but ended up smiling. She and Randy were about to tell everyone their secret about their engagement until they had heard voices in the hall. 

Rose looked around, surrounded by superstars. She walked toward Annie and offered her a hand, "I'm Rosalyn Bryant, but you can call me Rose."

Annie smiled, "Well, I'm Breanne Davis, but_ you_ can call me Annie. Now, have a seat. Randy and I were about to make and important announcement and you're just in time!"

Just at that minute, Stephanie and Paul came walking in the room, "Sorry you two, I almost forgot. We got…side tracked," Stephanie smiled and gave Annie a secretive glance. 

Annie looked around at everyone who had shown up and suddenly became very nervous, but she began to speak anyway, "Okay, um…Randy?" She looked at Randy with apologetic eyes. She just didn't have the nerve. 

Randy gave Annie a little smile and shook his head, "Okay, well…Annie and I just wanted you all to know…we're engaged," he said with a smile as he wrapped one arm around Annie's waist.

Everyone's eyes lid up and their mouths dropped as Annie lifted her hand to reveal the ring on her finger. Rose, even though she didn't know them very well, felt her eyes lighting up. She had always wondered about love, but never really given it a chance. She didn't want anything to come between her and her goals…her dreams. However, she would be happy for those who had found it. 

Annie and Randy received a ton of hugs as everyone left. Randy shouted out, "Hey, you're all invited to the wedding…when we decide a date for it, that is…"

Everyone let out a laugh as they exited, leaving Annie to her business. Randy turned to Annie and planted a kiss on her forehead, "I'll see you in little while, babe. I got to go out to the ring," he winked. He then turned to Rose, "It was nice meeting you." With that, he left to cut his promo. 

Annie watched as he left. His slate dress shirt and black pants, the belt over his shoulder, and his million dollar smile. 'Damn, I'm lucky,' she thought to herself before getting back down to business. "Okay, so you're the new writer?"

Rose nodded her head, "Yes."

Annie smiled, "You don't have talk all professional with me. I know you're mature for your age, but that doesn't mean you don't get to act like an eighteen year old sometimes."

Rose smiled, "Thanks……Um…so what are we going to be doing tonight?"

"Well, I'm just going to be showing you around and introducing you to the team and the superstars."

Rose furrowed her brow, "I don't mean to be rude, but…why isn't Stephanie or another writer showing me around? I mean, that would make more sense wouldn't it?"

Annie smiled, "Yah, it probably would make more sense, but it's your first night, and Raw is going to be very, very busy tonight. We've got one Hell of a main event and the writers are in a bustle because it's the night after a big holiday. Stephanie is in charge, so she's too busy at the moment. Now, don't worry, next week you'll be included in that bustle, but until then I'm here to show you the ropes," she paused and placed a comforting hand on Rose's shoulder, "Don't worry, it's good to get to know the people you're going to be working with before you actually work with them. It helps you to get a feel for that person, you understand?"

"Yah, that makes sense…sorry. Uh…how many people know my age?" Rose asked worriedly. She really didn't want to be treated like a child.

"Don't worry about it, only the people in charge. None of the wrestlers know…yet. C'mon, now, let's go take you to meet the people!"

"Okay…um…do you think we could stay away from Rene Dupree's dressing room, though?"

Annie gave a confused look, "Why's that? Rene's a sweetheart," at least that's all she had known him to be. 

"Um…are you sure we're talking about the same guy? Because if first impressions mean anything, then he qualifies as an asshole."

Annie couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Really? He must have found out he wasn't going to be in the show tonight. Was he the other voice we heard out in the hall? What did he say to you?"

"Well, I asked him for directions to your office, which I happened to be standing right in front of it at the time, and didn't even know it. He then pointed at your door and snorted before walking off and muttering something about the WWE needing to hire 'competent help.'"

Annie's expression changed a little. It was a mix of remorse, memory, and amusement. She decided to give Rose some advice, "I know first impressions go a long way, but trust me when I say this: they're pointless. Believe me, I know how frustrating it is to get into a confrontation on the first day, and all I have to say is there is a fine line between love and hate-"

"Trust me, that line, is one I don't intend to cross with Rene, or anyone else," Rose said, trying to reassure _herself _more than she was trying to assure Annie.

Annie let out a defeated sigh, "Well, I tried. Let's get going, and I guess we can skip Rene, if you really think it's necessary."

"I do. OH! And congratulations, by the way," Rose changed the subject.

"Thank you," Annie smiled.

"So how did you two meet?"

Annie laughed, "Well…it all started on my first night. He smarted off to me, and I slapped him."

Rose's eyes widened and her mouth dropped. This caused Annie to burst into laughter before she continued. They talked the entire time Annie showed her around and introduced her to everyone. Annie showed her where to take any documents she may have to turn in, introduced her to a number of superstars and divas, and told her what company to go to in order to get a decent rental car.

"Um…I don't drive," Rose smiled, almost ashamed.

Annie's face looked shocked for a minute, "Why not? Didn't your parents teach you?"

"Well…I don't really have any parents. I grew up in foster homes…no one ever had the time to teach me, and I didn't ask. I have my permit though," she smiled awkwardly, "I've been taking taxi cabs as long as I can remember."

Annie's face fell when she heard about her not having any parents. It had been hard losing her mother, but she couldn't even begin to imagine how hard it must have been not even knowing a mother _or_ a father, "I'm sorry to hear that, Rose." Annie smiled sweetly and patted her shoulder, "You seem to have done a good job raising yourself though, and I bet someone here can teach you. Maybe I can once I get caught up around here."

"Really? That would be great!"

"Good. Now, let's go watch the show on one of the monitors, okay?"

"Sounds good!"

~~~

~After the show~

~~~

Rose went out the door to meet her cab. Annie and Randy had offered to give her a ride, but Rose didn't want to impose. Besides, she could find her own way, that's what she did best. Rose heard footsteps behind her and clenched her fists. She didn't know this town, and she certainly didn't know it's people. Some may call her paranoid, but she knew all too well what could happen at night, especially when you're by yourself.

She turned her head casually and saw that it was just Rene. She let out a sigh of relief, then her encounter with him popped into her memory, 'Hmph…I'll just ignore him,' she thought to herself as she turned her head back and watched for her cab, but not before shooting him a look that clearly read, "Don't' fuck with me."

Rene felt goose bumps cover his skin. He wasn't sure if it was the weather, or the little woman who stood ten feet away from him. She had just shot him a Hell of a look, 'If looks could kill,' he thought, 'I must have made a good impression earlier,' he thought sarcastically. 

He took his time as he walked to his rental. He studied her more thoroughly as he made his way through the parking lot. She was about 5'6", blonde hair…he remembered the emerald green eyes from earlier. She had some muscle, he could tell, but she definitely wasn't an athlete. Something hit him, 'Why is she just standing out here? Where's her car?' Deciding to chance it, he yelled out to her, "Do you need a ride or something?"

Rose ignored the voice. She didn't want his pity and she sure as hell didn't want him to know that she didn't have a license. That would totally deflate her, and that is the last thing she needed. She didn't want to admit her weaknesses, especially not to some asshole who obviously thought he was superior to her. She heard his footsteps drawing near as her cab pulled up. 

Rene stopped mid stride as he saw her get into the cab and flash him a disdainful look as she shut the door. Yup. He had definitely made an impression. 'Oh well, she can be like that. I don't care, she isn't worth the time anyway, besides, two can play at this game.'

~~~

Annie and Randy watched from the exit doors. They had seen everything that went down between Rose and Rene. Annie's eyes flashed mischief and she turned her head to look at Randy.

"Oh no. No way, Annie! We should just let them deal with it in their own way," Randy recognized that look all too well. She always looked that way when she was planning to do something.

Annie let out a small sigh, "Aaawww, c'mon. Opposites attract! We could set them up on a blind date and-"

Randy cut her off with a kiss, "No. Besides, we have our own date to attend."

"Really? Where are we going?" Annie asked, already knowing the answer.

"To the hotel…we'll order room service!"

Annie rolled her eyes, "You're loving those corporate hotel rooms, aren't you?"

Randy nodded his head, "Oh yah! I love their room service, their showers, but most of all…I like their beds…" he trailed off as he led her to their car.

Annie would drop her matchmaker plans…for now. She would stir the pot some other night…she had business with her fiancé tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, well, that was chapter one. Hope you liked it! Don't worry, I plan on making a feud for the ages between Rene and Rose, lol. Review please!! 

Pammi


	3. Going Under

Okay ya'll I'm back with another chapter, but before you read that, please read this. I'm getting a little bit of heat from a couple of you, which is completely understandable. I know, I know…you don't like Rene Dupree, and you don't want me to pair him with Rose. 

However, don't over look him. I chose him for a very good reason. I know he plays and asshole on TV., and a lot of you don't find him attractive. I'll admit, he's no Randy Orton, but the boy _is talented _and he ain't that bad looking, ya'll. You may ask yourself, 'What does talent have to do with anything in a fan fiction? Plenty. He was signed by the WWE at the age of 19, he's the youngest guy on the roster. They gave him a developmental contract with the OVW, but in only 6 months, they tore it up and signed him. To me, that says a lot about a person. That says a lot about character, talent, and persistence. To have started so young, and to show such talent, not just potential, but **_true talent_**, I think he deserves to be given some credit. 

I didn't choose Sylvan, because he's out on injury, and word is that nobody likes him backstage b/c he keeps on messing up in the ring. Rene, however, is fitting in, and he's not messing up nearly as bad as most of the guys in the back. I'm not saying he's perfect, and he may play a dick in the ring, but he isn't afraid to get on that microphone in front of TENS OF THOUSANDS of AMERICANS and INSULT them. I mean, I'm an American, and he pisses me off every time, lol. That's good, though, that means he's doing a good job. He's good at what he does, and it's not all about looks. 

I see something in Rene, that I don't see in a lot of the other new guys, and that's talent. Don't get me wrong, the new guys have talent, but it's more like an envision of what they _could_ do and contribute than what they actually _are _doing at the moment. You hear J.R. saying, 'Boy, that kid's got a lot of POTENTIAL,' especially when he talks about Cade and Jindrak. When J.R. talks about Rene, I've heard him on several occasions, 'That Rene has tons of _TALENT_.' There's a difference in talent, and potential. 

To me, he's an inspiration, he's broken the boundaries of age, and proven to the younger generation of fans and athletes that they can do what they put their minds to. And for that, he has my respect, and so he gets to be a main character in my story. Remember, that I like to focus my stories on what the people are like out of character. Just stick with me on this one guys. I'll try not to fuck up, but you have to try to understand where I'm coming from here. Okay? Just give it a chance, okay? That's all I'm asking. If it doesn't work out, then I'll change it, but right now, that's where it's going, so please, just give it a shot! 

I really appreciate you guys, and your opinions are very important to me, but I really want to see if I can do this, so c'mon, what do you say??? 

Pammi

Chapter Two: Going Under

Rose cursed loudly as she ran into the building. A few more minutes and she would have been really late. It had been one hellacious week. There had been too many meetings, too many disapprovals, and too many fucking debates. Finally, after five days of hitting the drawing board, the creative team had agreed on some ideas, and thrown together the 'script', as she liked to call it, for Monday night.

She was running down the hall now, trying to get to her destination as quickly as possible. She would NOT be late, damn it, not during her second week. It was too soon for her to be making mistakes. She knew she was expendable regardless of her talent for writing. She knew that punctuality was important, especially when a corporation was involved. 

Rose saw the corner she was supposed to turn in order to get to Steph's office, and nearly missed it. She ran around the corner and just when she was about to make it to her destination with minutes to spare, her foot caught on a wire. A loud, "SHIT," flew from her mouth as she saw her things go flying and felt her body hit the floor.

"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" She whispered hostilely as she pulled herself up into a kneeling position. She looked at all of her scattered belongings. Her purse was at least three feet from where she knelt, her small briefcase had snapped open after hitting the wall, and now, it and all of it's contents were all over the place and across the hall.

Rose let out a breath, then she laughed. She laughed as she thought of the way she must have looked when she fell. Her arms probably swung out in the air as her briefcase and purse escaped her grasp. Her mouth was probably open screaming some obscenity and her eyes must have been wide open in horror. She can't remember screaming, but she was more than certain that she had. She continued to laugh and hung her head at her own folly. 

A folly that hadn't gone unnoticed. Rene Dupree was on his way to get a bottled water when he came upon the sight. The new writer, whose name he had just recently learned to be Rosalyn Bryant. He hadn't known why, but he couldn't help asking around about her. He didn't find out much though, just her name. He looked at her now. She was very pretty, he'd admit that much. 

He couldn't help but smile when he saw the way she laughed at herself. Most people he knew would have blown up and started yelling all kinds of obscenities. She had mumbled a few, he was sure, but she hadn't gone off on some rant. Before he knew what he was doing, he was approaching her.

Rose looked up to meet a pair of cold, amused eyes. Her amused expression immediately turned into a hard one. She took a breath and cleared her throat as she rebuilt her dignity. The eyes studied her as she slowly and calmly picked herself up and dusted herself off. She was careful to seem terse and strong. 

Rene studied the disheveled mess that stood indignantly before him. She was obviously still peeved at him from their last encounter. He took a breath, he didn't know what possessed him to walk toward her like that, but now he was determined to make her even more pissed off. Just because he could. 'Hmm…some teasing might help,' he smirked to himself.

"Excuse me," she said tartly.

"Hmm? Were you talking to me?"

Rose narrowed her eyes, "Yes, I **_was _**talking to you. You're in my way."

Rene raised his eyebrows, "Am I?"

Rose let out a puff, 'So much for being civil. I'll just go around,' she thought. As she attempted to step around him, he moved too, sure to stay in her way. She rolled her eyes, she didn't have time for this shit. She had ten minutes to dispose of this prick and pick up her crap.

"How about now? Am I still in your way?" He asked as she tried to move around him again, and was blocked again. "What about now? Still in your way?" This was too much fun. He had to admit, she looked kind of cute with her brow all furrowed and her hair all over the place. He let out a mirthful laugh. This was really, really fun, mean, of course, but fun.

Rose snapped. He was laughing at her! She didn't have time for this kind of evil. "Listen here, Peppy La Pew, I don't have time for this shit! I'm about to be late for a very important meeting, okay? Now get your overgrown Canadian-French, whatever the fuck, ASS OUT OF MY WAY!!!" With that, she pushed past him and picked up her things. She then hurried off toward the place she had been so close to getting before she had fallen. She quickly turned the knob and breathed relief as she had still been on time.

Rene stood exactly where she had left him. His amusement had turned into anger, annoyance, and, as much as he hated to admit it, remorse. 'Forget it, man. She's a bitch,' he told himself before walking off. He couldn't help but smile though, it had still been fun to pester her. 

Annie, Stephanie, and the rest of the creative team looked up as they heard the door open. They looked on a bit shocked at the sight before them. Annie and Stephanie tried to stifle their grins at a completely disoriented Rosalyn Bryant. 

Annie cleared her throat and looked at Stephanie before speaking, "Well, now that everyone's here…let's get started. I've got the matches lined up, now all we need to do is figure out when and where to cut the promos, and everything will be set." With that, the meeting started.

~~~

Randy walked down the hall, he was looking for Annie. He had cut all the promos he needed to cut, and there wasn't much else planned for him that night, so he was going to pester his fiancé. 

He turned his head when he saw a somewhat flustered Rene Dupree. He let out a breath, 'well, I don't have anything else to do.' "Hey, Dupree, what's up?"

Rene turned his features toward the voice. Seeing it was Randy he smiled, "Nothing, I was just about to go shower."

"Oh, I was just wandering, you look a little pissed off," Randy observed, "Who is she?" he asked jokingly, remembering he had been asked that question not too long ago. 

"What?" Rene asked surprised, "There's no girl…just a BITCH!"

Randy's eyes flew open in shock, "WHAT!?! Who?"

Rene looked around, "No one, forget it. I don't want to piss anyone off."

"Don't worry about it, man. C'mon, tell me what's going on," Randy urged.

Rene let out a sigh, "Alright," he agreed as they made their way to Rene's dressing room, he told Randy about the new girl, and their exchange last week, and then their encounter earlier that night.

Randy shook his head, "Just tell her you're sorry, dude."

"No way. Risk getting my head chewed off again? She hates me and it's probably best that way. I don't need some chick thinking she can twist me in whatever way she wants. Been there, done that."

Randy nodded, "Alright, but just don't provoke her like that anymore. What were you thinking?" he asked with a laugh.

"I don't know. She just looked so funny when she fell…" Rene laughed when he remembered her rather ungraceful tumble.

Randy laughed, "I know. Annie's really cl-" he stopped mid sentence when he saw her approaching.

"I'm what?" Annie asked with an anticipating smirk.

"A really, creative, beautiful, lovely woman," Randy said with a cheesy smile.

"Uh-huh," she said through narrowed eyes.

"Whatever he told you, Rene, don't believe him."

"Don't worry, all of us know he's just a cocky dumb ass," Rene smiled mock-sweetly.

Randy flipped him off, "Is that the thanks I get for trying to help your retarded ass?"

Rene just shrugged, "I've got to go guys. The show's almost over. I'll talk to you two later."

"See ya, Rene," Randy said as they nodded farewell to each other.

"So…what was that all about?" Annie asked.

"Um…nothing. Rene was just having some women trouble that's all. I thought he could use some help from a professional."

Annie shook her head, "Professional? You? AHAHAHAHAHAHHAA. Yah right!"

"Hey!"

They continued walking down the hall. Speaking in hushed voices, Annie told him about Rose, and everything that Rose had told her. Randy explained about Rene, and all the reasons they _shouldn't_ get involved. Annie just rolled her eyes and changed the subject. She would convince him later. Right now she just wanted talk him into helping her pick out some wedding decorations from a catalog she had borrowed from Stephanie.

Rose observed the couple walking down the hall. She just didn't get it. How could two people possibly be that in love with each other. She just didn't understand how there could be people like that. She didn't understand a lot of things, she admitted. 

She didn't understand how two people could abandon their child. She wondered if her real parents had, at one time, been like Annie and Randy. Happy and in love. She wondered if her parents could have loved her if she had been given the chance. Rose shook her head. She couldn't compare the two, she knew that Randy and Annie were good people, and that her parents, obviously, were not.

Exhaling, she walked out of the double doors. She was done for the night, and she had just got off the phone with the cab company. Rose had her heart set on a good book and nice cup of hot tea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, sorry it isn't that long, only five pages, but next time there will be more. I'm probably going to write another chapter or two this week, so that's the plan for now.

Well, I hope you understand my reasoning now for putting Rene in this story, and please review!

Pammi


	4. A Very Thin Line Between Love and Hate I...

Alright ya'll, I'm back. Sorry this took so long, but I was lacking motivation for a little while. I've been listening to music and taking it easy, getting ready to start back at college for my second semester. Anyway, here's the next chapter! Oh, I would also like to ask all of you to visit my new web-blog. There's a link on my profile page, yes, I finally updated that damn thing, lol.

Disclaimer: I don't own the WWE or any of it's superstars. Rose **_is _**mine, however. I didn't write Conflict, by Disturbed, and I certainly don't own any part of Disturbed…although I wouldn't mind owning David Draiman…MEEEOOOOWWW-I mean *clears throat* uh………ON WITH THE STORY!! Heh, heh.

Chapter Three: A Very Thin Line Between Love and Hate Indeed

Back to where we left off……

Rose walked out of the doors of the arena. She didn't see her cab pulling up. Rolling her eyes, she decided to sit down on a nearby bench. She began to reach into her bag and pull out Disturbed's album, 'The Sickness'. She was about to turn it on when she saw a familiar dickhead approaching her.

"Waiting for another cab?" Rene smirked as he began to come closer. He had no idea why he kept approaching her like this, but damn it, it was becoming one Hell of a bad habit.

"Why are you so damn nosey?" she cocked an eyebrow.

"Why are you so bitchy?" he smirked, annoyed that she still refused to let it go. He wondered if she was always so edgy and why she always took things so seriously. 

Rose rolled her eyes and put her headphones on. She pushed play and turned up the volume. She thought he'd take the hint…she was dead wrong. 

Rene was getting tired of her attitude. Sure, he had teased ceaselessly since the day he met her, but he couldn't help it. He didn't know why, but he felt drawn to her. That had to be the reason. Why else couldn't he stop himself from approaching her? Finally, unable to resist the urge, Rene grabbed the headphones off her head and the player from her hands. 

Rose, now thoroughly pissed, jumped up from where she sat to grab her cd player from him. Rene was quick though, and held it out of her grasp. He smirked down at her, "I'll give it back once you tell me why you hate me so much."

Defeated, Rose stopped trying to retrieve her portable. She stood there for a minute with narrowed eyes before speaking, "I don't hate you. You just piss me off…continuously."

He smirked down at her, "Okay, now one more question." 

"Now what?" she asked, irritated with him, now more than ever.

Rene thought for a second about that. He didn't know how to word his next question. He wasn't good with women. Finally, just deciding to state it bluntly, he looked down into her emerald eyes. This was not going to come out right, could feel it.

He smiled, and for an instant, just an instant, Rose saw that same quality in him that she had seen her first night on the job. She saw a person that could be cool to be around. Someone that she could confide in, trust, and even befriend. But of course, just as he had done before, he opened his mouth and ruined it, "If you don't hate me…then why are you always such a bitch to talk to?"

That was it! 'Who the Hell does he think he is?' Rose thought before she snapped, "Fuck you, French fry! Why don't you answer some of my questions, huh? For instance, why do you always have to be such a-" Rose was cut off as her mouth was sealed with someone else's. Rene's. She kept thinking to herself, 'Fight him! Punch him! Kick him! Do something!' And she did…for about two seconds. 

Rene didn't know what he was doing, but just as he expected, his words had come out all wrong. The only thing he could really believe in right now was that saying that said, 'actions speak louder that words.'

Somewhere along the lines, Rose had begun to like the kiss. It had started hard and fierce. Eventually, however, it had grown passionate and wanton. 'This is good,' she realized, 'very, very good.' Then, another realization hit her. This was her first kiss.

She felt herself blush at the thought. Here she was, eighteen years old and not been kissed before. Hell, she had moved so many times in her life, she never really had time to keep a boyfriend. Now that she thought about it, she realized that she hadn't desired one. Things just got messed up whenever she tried to let people in. Friends were the same story. The only real friends she had were her cd's and her cd player. After experiencing this, however, boyfriends were becoming a little more appealing.

Rene could feel his heartbeat quicken. He still didn't know what had possessed him to kiss her. Sure his lack of excellent wording, but there were other reasons. Hell, It could have been one of many things, he admitted to himself. It could have been the outfit; sleek and sexy, yet professional. It could have been the way the loose pieces of hair fell around her face or the way her eyes narrowed at him when she was pissed off. Hell, he didn't care. He didn't want to think about it anymore, it was too good to care about.

Rose felt herself deepening the kiss, exploring what she had never felt before. Her knees were going weak and she reflexively wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt him pull her closer, his arms strong and powerful, yet gentle and caressing. She let out a soft pout against his lips. Just when it seemed as if it would never end, not that she was complaining, headlights shone on where they were standing, and just as quickly as it had began, it ended. 

Rose's eyes flew open as if she had just awoken from a sleeping state. She pushed herself away from Rene, grabbing her cd player from his shocked hands and flashing him a hard glance. She then turned back toward the bench and quickly grabbed her things and ran to her cab. It was the second time that she had been saved by the almighty taxi, she thought.

Rene stood there, blinking and unable to wipe the grin off of his face. He had liked that kiss, and if he wasn't mistaken, she had too. Hell, she might have enjoyed it just as much, if not more, judging by the death lock she had on him only moments ago. Coming out of his somewhat shocked state, Rene walked to his rental. Try as he did, he was unable to remove the thoughts of emerald green eyes from his mind.

By the time he had gotten back to his hotel, he was still confused. Not only in his motives, but also with all of the other conflicting feelings he had toward Rose. She was infuriating and stubborn, and yet, she was so damn beautiful and intriguing at the same time. 

~~~

Rose sat on her bed in her hotel room. She tried to assess the situation, make sense of it all. She had been yelling at him one minute and kissing the shit out of him the next. What was she thinking? What had she done? "Oh God, I'm never going to be able to look at him the same again!" she said with remorse as she heaved herself backward onto her bed in a huff.

She could feel herself blushing as she thought about the kiss-Her first kiss! And it had been given to her by someone she didn't even remotely like! She shook her head. Thinking it over again, she came to the conclusion that she was just caught off guard. And the only reason she reacted the way she did is because it _was_ her first kiss. Of course she would react the way she did. She was curious. 

She took a breath. "That's all it was…just a whim. I'm over it…right?" She shook her head, "Of course I am…it was just an in the heat of the moment thing…" she paused, and thought of the way her whole body had gone weak, "Still…it was a first kiss, I mean…it isn't weird to be happy about it…just because it was from someone I don't like. I can still be…happy about it?" Sighing, Rose pulled the rest of her body back onto the bed and pulled on her headphones. 

She turned the volume up in an attempt to force the memories out of her head. She could be somewhat happy about the kiss, but she'd be damned if she let it happen again. She refused to let him think that just because he had kissed her…kissed her really, really well, that she was going to change her opinions about him. 

She closed her eyes and let her head move slightly to the song that started to play. 'This is more like it,' she thought to herself as the song, "Conflict", sounded in her ears. She started to sing along to the words. 

You are, enemy  
You are my hated enemy  
I am enemy  
Number one rated enemy  
I'm labeled enemy  
I am your mortal enemy  
My actions enemy  
Make me your bitter enemy  
  
All the world around enemy  
They're tearing up the ground enemy  
They're drawn in by the sound  
Enemy, enemy I must eliminate my Enemy  
  
Your people, enemy  
My people's hated enemy  
What are you, enemy  
Though a created enemy  
Terminate the, enemy  
Eradicate the hated enemy  
I am an enemy  
My very greatest enemy  
  
You try to tell me that you love life  
Then find another way to kill life 

When the song ended, Rose removed her headphones and rolled over in her bed. Next time she saw Rene, she would make it clear. She would make sure he knew where they stood. She'd be sure he knew that they were still enemies. She wouldn't be made into some love-sick puppy. She was stronger than that. She didn't need anyone anyway, she told herself.

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Okay, there you go. I hope ya'll liked that one, lol. I don't know really know where all that came from, but hey, it's all good. Anyway, I almost forgot to tell you guys that I will be removing the responses to "Intern and the Orton" from my website and replacing them with the responses to this one. Sorry, but I really don't have the bandwidth to have responses for both stories. Oh well, it's all good.

REVIEW! REVIEW!

Pammi

P.S. Sorry this is soooo short, but I just……I don't even know, lol. Next chapter will be waaaaay longer, I promise!


	5. Man Overboard!

Hey, wow, I'm back again, and before Monday…YIPEEE! I finally found my motivation! Now, as for reviews, ya'll better start dishing them out!!! LOL. I feed off of reviews!! I NEED THEM TO WRITE!!! Seriously…please?? Review?? Just for me?? Please?? 

Chapter four: Man Overboard!

Saturday, 10 Jan. 2004

On a flight headed to New York…

"C'mon…you saw them Monday night! How can you say still say no?" Annie whined as another flight attendant passed. She and Randy had once again observed the interaction between Rene and Rose.

"Annie, I just don't think it's any of our business. They're young kids…hormones…that kind of thing," Randy smiled.

"Well, I just don't see why we couldn't just give them a little push in the right direction," Annie pushed on.

"Annie, we-"

"What are you two going on about back there?" Stephanie asked as she, Ric, and Paul turned their heads to see Randy with an 'Oh shit' look and Annie with a pouting face. They could tell Annie was about to get her way with something which caused all of them to smirk a little bit.

Annie gave a slight smile, "We were just talking about Rose…and Rene." 

"Oh," Ric and Paul said nonchalantly in unison.

Stephanie looked from Ric to her husband and then back to Randy and Annie. She had been left out of the loop, "What do you mean 'Oh'? What about Rose and Rene?" She paused, "Well? I want to know too!"

Annie smiled, "Well…it's nothing…I just wanted to get them together is all."

"I thought that Rose hated Rene…and vise versa. Why would you want to do that? It'd be like watching domestic violence on Cops."

"See? That's what I've been trying to tell you-" Randy tried to interject, but Stephanie cut him off.

"However, opposites _do_ attract. It might just be possible!" 

"Oh no," Randy sighed as he threw his head back into defeat.

Paul smiled, "You might as well give up, Randy. It's over now. She has someone's approval."

Stephanie smacked her husband playfully on the arm, "Shush!" She turned her attention back to Randy, "Trade me seats really quick!"

"Wait, wait…I want Randy to condone it first. We're gonna need his help sooner or later," Annie said turning her face toward her fiancé, flashing him a very well rehearsed puppy-dog face.

That was it, Randy couldn't say no to that. With a sigh, he gave in, "Alright, alright. You win. I'll play along, but if it ends in bloodshed, it's on your hands."

"Deal," Annie smiled, "Now move. Me and Stephanie have some planning to do." A matter of minutes later, Annie was explaining everything that had happened between the two subjects. Then, they began to hatch the plan. 

~Sunday~

Rene looked down at his watch. It was three o' clock in the afternoon and they still hadn't shown up, "They told me two-thirty," he said aloud to no one at all. With a sigh, he leaned his back against the railing. 

He was on a small tourist boat that was to take him to the Statue of Liberty in only a few short minutes. The boat left at three-fifteen. He glanced at his watch: 3:10. Letting out another sigh, he glanced around the small deck once more to see if they had come without his noticing. 

His eyes skimmed through the passengers trying to see if any of them resembled any of the members of Evolution, 'Nope…no…uh-uh…nah…no way…no-' his breath caught in his throat, 'Shit.' It was her. What was she doing here? He thought for a moment about whether or not he should approach her. 

Keeping his distance and trying to stay out of sight seemed like the wise decision. Making wise decisions the last few days, however, had obviously proved not to be his forte. Straightening his shoulders and standing up tall, Rene approached a very unaware Rosalyn Bryant.

~~~

Rose leaned against the railing, listening as the 'skipper' started up the tourist boat she was on. Stephanie and Annie had called her and suggested that she check out the Statue of Liberty while she was in New York. They had told her when and where a good time would be to go. Stephanie had told her that Sunday would be her only off day, so she better take advantage of it, and she planned on following that advice.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and let the chilly, mid-day wind blow through her hair. She reveled in the feel of it against her face. She didn't mind cold weather, she thought to herself. It always gave her a reason to use her blankets, and in her opinion, sleep wasn't comfortable if there wasn't a blanket. 

For some reason, the moment she thought of blankets and being warm, she remembered Monday night. She remembered how good it had felt to be in Rene's arms. To feel his breath against her lips, his tongue in her mouth. She still remembered the taste of him. It was something along the lines of cinnamon and apples. He tasted sweet…and he felt even sweeter, she thought with a slight smile.

Rose licked her lips as she remembered how strong his arms had been around her. She had to wrap her body tightly in her blankets that night as a substitute. A body that still felt every caress. Here it was…six days later, and she could still feel his lips on hers. She wondered briefly to herself for a moment, 'Is that what it is? Kissing. Is it supposed to leave you wishing for more. Am I still supposed to feel it like this?' 

Feeling the heat rise to her face, Rose snapped her eyes open. She looked down at the water. Letting out a sigh, Rose came to her senses. She shouldn't be thinking like this. Not about…not about _him._ 'He's your enemy, remember?' she questioned herself inside her head. 'He's rude, arrogant, cocky, proud, stupid, muscular, strong, sexy-NO! He's a jerk. Plain and simple. He'd just as soon spit in your face than look at you.' 

"Jerk," she said out loud as she remembered the first time she had met him. She remembered all the times they had encountered each other. None of them had been pleasant. 'If he were here I'd ring his stupid neck-'

"It's nice to see you too," Rene's voice sounded behind her.

Rose spun around, her eyes wide in a mix of shock and horror all rolled into one, "You!" she snapped, "What the Hell are _you_ doing here?!"

Rene flashed her a sideways grin, "What? I can't go sight-seeing?"

"Not where I am!" she shot back as she tried to push her way past him to the other side of the boat. Anywhere was better than close to him. 

Rene let out a frustrated sigh. He stepped in her way, "Look, I'm sorry about Monday night. I don't know what came over me. The kiss…it was a mistake. I'm sorry. Can't we just start over?" he asked hurriedly, not wanting to get smacked.

Rose looked up at him. He was sorry? He hadn't meant to kiss her? She should be relieved, right? After all, she had made it clear to herself that he was the enemy! It was merely a whim! She had gotten caught up in the moment of her first kiss! She sighed mentally. If all of that were true, then why did it hurt to hear him say it was a mistake? To hear him say that he hadn't meant it? 

Rose swallowed hard, "I don't know," she said honestly, "Ever since I met you, you have been nothing but rude. You ignore me on my first night, and then insult me in the same instant. Then, last Monday, you insult me again! And on top of all that, you have the audacity to KISS ME!" 

Rene kicked into defense, "Look, you haven't exactly been pleasant toward me either. In fact, you've been a bitch toward me ever since you walked into the WWE."

Rose's eyes flickered hatred, "Oh, you have _NO_ idea how big of a bitch I can be!"

"Is that so?" he challenged.

Rose let out a laugh, "Is that all you can manage? An 'Is that so?'" she mimicked him.

"I could manage a lot worse, but I'd rather not, seeing as to how we're already attracting an audience," Rene said in a hushed tone as he motioned to all the onlookers who were trying to act casual.

Taking a breath, Rose straightened her back, "Let them look!"

"Thanks, but I prefer keeping my face off of the tabloids," he said in a matter of fact tone.

"Hmm…what about Sports Illustrated?"

Rene's face displayed his confusion, "What? Sports Illustrated? Why would I care about that-" Before he could finish or figure out what was happening, Rene found himself falling over the edge of the boat and into cold water. 

"Because if you can swim back to shore from there, I'm sure they'll want you on the cover," She yelled as she waved to him from the boat. She was smiling sadistically when she noticed that he wasn't swimming. 'Why isn't he swimming?…he's just…wait…no…he's sinking.'

Rose had no idea that Rene couldn't swim…Hell, they were only a little way out from the shore. Nope, he definitely wasn't swimming. "Oh shit…oh God…" those were her final thoughts before jumping into the icy, cold water and swimming to Rene's struggling form. 

She could see him fighting to stay afloat, but he was sinking. Hell, it couldn't have been more that twenty feet deep at this point. She pressed on. She knew that even ten feet was enough to drown a person if they didn't know how to swim. Rose called out to him, "Rene! Don't struggle, you'll sink faster if you do!"

Just as his head was about to go under, Rose reached him and pulled him up from behind. She heard him gasp for air, and thanked the Lord that he was breathing. She pulled his body from behind as she swam them both ashore. All the while, neither of them spoke. 

When they finally made it, they were assisted to shore by some lifeguards. Rose felt her stomach tie up in knots as they started questioning, "We saw her push you over si-" one of the lifeguards began to ask, but was cut off by Rene.

"No, it was an accident. She and I were joking around, and I slipped," he lied.

"But sir-"

"I told you it was an accident. Do you think she would have jumped in after me if it weren't?" Rene asked with an expression that said one thing: Duh.

Reluctantly, they left the two alone, but not before warning them that if they weren't more careful next time they went on the boat, that they would be banned.

Rose stood, shocked to the core. She couldn't believe that he had lied to save her ass. She found her voice, "Why did you do that? Why did you lie to them? I pushed you…on purpose."

"I know that," he said, frustration obvious in his voice, "I figured I owed you. You did jump in after me when you realized I couldn't swim. So I owed you. Thanks. Goodbye," he said as he spun on his heal and walked away. He was livid at her for pushing him over, but even more livid with himself because he didn't know how to swim. He had to have a _girl_ save him. Hell, a girl that hated his guts. 

~~~

Rose lay in her bed that night and she cried. She didn't exactly know why she was crying. There were so many confused thoughts in her head at the moment that she wasn't sure which one to cry about. All of them were good reasons, though.

There was the guilt she felt for nearly killing Rene. There could also be the fact that even though she had pushed him overboard, and nearly caused him to drown, he had lied for her. Sure, she had jumped in afterward, but it didn't rectify what she had done. Then, there was the shame she felt at the thought that the kiss they'd shared might actually have meant something to her, yet to him…it was just a mistake. 

He had been willing to start over, but she wouldn't have it. Rose scolded herself for being so damn stubborn and reckless. She sobbed uncontrollably into her pillow. Another reason for her crying was that familiar feeling of being unwanted. She suddenly knew why it had hurt her to hear Rene admit the kiss was a mistake.

It had hurt her because when he kissed her, it was the first time in her life that she had felt wanted. That's the real reason she refused to accept his proposal to start over. She was angry at him because by admitting that it was a mistake, he was saying that he didn't want her either. That's the reason she pushed him over. Because he didn't want her, and in a way…because she knew that if they did start over, they would become friends. Then, she'd be forced to let someone get close. She couldn't do that…she just couldn't.

As her tears ceased, Rose's eye's began to flutter shut, and her breathing began to slow. She slipped into herself and retreated into sleep. She didn't know how she was going to face him tomorrow. All she knew, was that if she could, she would avoid seeing him altogether.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, see, that was longer. I'm really sorry you guys, is this story sucking?? I'm thinking it is…*sighs* Should I delete the whole thing? I mean seriously, what do you think?

Pammi


	6. I'M BACK BABY! OH YAH! PAMMI'S GOT HER G...

Okay people, you win. I'll continue to try, lol. I refuse to quit!!! I figured out what my problem is. I pushed myself to start writing another story…really, really soon, so that I could get back with the Raw storyline. I think I've overcome the sudden wave of shock that came over me though. 

I re-read the first few chapters, and I've declared that they aren't all that great. I'm probably going to perk them up a bit, so don't be surprised if you see some changes in them. I'm just not happy with the way the feud between Rose and Rene started, and progressed. I'm thinking of changing that, but only a little bit, to make it more convincing. I'm still going with the whole fighting/hating/angsty shiz-nit, lol. It's all good. I'm really sorry this story got off to such an iffy beginning. Tell me if what you think. Should I re-write some of the parts in the first few chapters? I really need to know, it'd make things sooo much easier, lol. 

Chapter five: Bloody Hell-or Orton-or yah-Hell

Annie flipped through the pages of the catalog. Every time she looked at her engagement ring, she found herself browsing her newly purchased collection of Bridal magazines. She laughed to herself giddily as she skimmed the pages. She would occasionally find herself stopping to look at a dress, then deciding against it. She wanted her dress to be somewhat sexy, yet conservative. If such a dress existed, she certainly hadn't found it.

Randy looked up from where he sat reading some Pantera article. He spotted Breanne ogling the wedding magazines again. He shook his head as he saw her face light up at for a moment at a dress, then fall as she shook her head and turned the page. 'What have I gotten myself into?' he questioned himself with a laugh. He looked her over, 'Oh yah, that's right…I'm in love…it's totally worth it then,' he smiled as he stood up and walked over toward her.

"Hey, you," he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Hey," she leaned into his embrace, then turned the page back to the dress she had just spotted, "What do you think of this one?"

"It doesn't really matter…I'm just going to rip it off of you that night," he breathed into her ear, sending chills down her spine. 

"No you won't…not if it costs that much," she pointed to the price at the bottom of the page.

Randy's eyes widened as he tugged at his collar, "Maybe you're right…a more subtle undressing might be better…"

Annie laughed, "That's what I was thinking. Screw the dress hunting for now! I want to pick the colors and decorations!" she exclaimed as she picked up a different stack of magazines.

Randy shrugged, "Sure, but uh…why don't we wait until after the show? Then we can relax and pick everything out?"

Annie smiled, "Sounds good to me."

Randy kissed her forehead as he started to stand up, "Where do you want to eat tonight, babe?"

"How about Olive Garden?" she asked, already knowing his reply.

"You know me too well," he shook his head as she left the dressing room to cut a promo.

Annie let out a reflective sigh as she puzzled over how it had come so far in such a short period of time. 'Let's review shall we?? Oh, that's right! You're just one really fuckin' lucky woman!!' she smiled to herself. Once again she found herself thinking over that first night she had started working here. She had hated Randy, at first.

She winced as she remembered what Rose had told her earlier that day. Randy and herself may not have hit it off in the beginning, but she had never pushed him off a boat. Annie nearly laughed out loud at the thought of a flailing Rene, but thought better of it after remembering the look of regret on Rose's face. 'The poor girl, how was she supposed to know he couldn't swim?' She sighed. 

Annie felt partially responsible. It was her meddling that led the two to the boat in the first place. It wasn't supposed to turn out the way it did. Annie grimaced, "They were supposed to see each other on the boat, start to talk things out, get caught up in the scenery, and at least start some sort of friendship." 

Annie held in a smile. How was she supposed to know that Rose was going to try and kill him! 'It's always the quiet ones!' This time she did giggle, but only for a second. She had decided after the incident to take Randy's advice and leave it to them from now on.

However, she would be open to give advice if either person decided to come to her, and Randy was willing to do at least that as well. He had no problem helping people when they asked for it, but Annie figured that was only because he liked the idea of no longer being the youngest guy in the back. 'Being able to give advice probably makes him feel wiser or something,' Annie concluded.

Annie was going back to her laptop to update the website when there was a knock at the door. "Come in," she said cheerfully.

"Annie?" It was Rose.

Annie turned to see a pale-faced rose. She had obviously been dreading coming here tonight, "Yah, sweetie?" Annie asked, acting as if she didn't notice the younger girl's obvious plight at having to show her face after what she had done yesterday.

"Um…Stephanie's calling another creative meeting. I think inspiration suddenly struck her or something," Rose managed a small smile to accompany a faint laugh.

Annie smiled sweetly, "Okay, I'll be there." Annie let out with a sigh. As soon as she had come back to the WWE, Vince and Steph had asked her to join the creative team. Of course she just _had_ oblige. 

Rose caught on to her dismay, "Don't worry, it's nothing bad. It's actually about next week's show. So that means less worries at the Thursday morning meeting _this_ week." Rose smiled when she noticed Annie's face lift a little.

"Sounds good…" Annie trailed off. She wanted to ask Rose if she had talked to Rene yet, but she didn't want to get involved. If Rose wanted to tell her, she woul-

"No," Rose shook her head. She saw the questions written all over Annie's troubled face.

Immediately Annie ran off into another fit of apologies, "Oh, Rosie, I'm soooo sorry. I didn't think it would end the way it did, honestly. I guess I'm losing my sight…I'm usually really good at seeing a potential match. Could you ever forgive me? I'm so sorr-"

"It's okay Annie, really…it is. It shouldn't have turned out the way it did, in fact…I could have chose to make it different. It was all my fault. He asked me if we could put all the shit behind us and start over. I just wouldn't have it. I'm so reckless…what was I thinking pushing him over like that!?!" Rose spat quickly, finally able to release all of the pent up frustration. Rose could feel the sting of tears in her eyes, "I feel so awful," she choked.

Annie was across the room and hugging the girl in less than half a second, "Calm down honey, it's oka-"

"No! You don't understand. It's only my third week and look at me! I'm already a mess! I don't think this job is for me…I mean…I don't know. I thought I could handle it. This is everything I've ever wanted, but I think I should have waited to accept Vince's offer. I'm clearly not WWE material."

"Don't say that! You're going to do great here. You've got such potential. I know you can do this, sweetie. I know how hard it can be when you first start out here, and how scary the first few weeks are, but you have to listen to me. You have to learn not to take things too seriously around here. People can seem rude and careless at first, but with time and effort, it gets better. I promise, this will seem really funny in a couple of months."

Rose sniffled, "I know. I'm sorry I broke down on you. Ugh, I need to get a grip. I guess I'm over-reacting."

"That's better. Why don't you go wash your face and we'll walk to the meeting together, okay?"  


"Okay," Rose said as Annie released her and she walked over toward the sink.

Meanwhile, Rene stood outside the door, his features deep in thought. He had heard every word. He was still a little agitated at being thrown off a boat, but it wasn't like he didn't have it coming. The only thing that was really damaged after being tossed over was his ego. 

He was just happy none of the guys other than Evolution knew about the incident. Hell, he didn't even want Conway to know. 'He'd have a hay-day with that…I'd never live it down.' Rene had come looking for Randy, but he obviously wasn't there. Rene had no other reason for being outside of Breanne Davis' office but he lingered there anyway. 

He was torn between two ways of handling the situation. Torn between going in there and telling Rose not to worry about it and then kiss the Hell out of her, or running away very quickly and avoiding her completely…or at least for as long as humanly possible. Sighing, Rene chose the second option. He high-tailed it out of there as soon as he heard them coming toward the door. He walked quickly to try and avoid being seen by Rose and Annie.

"Well, let's go!" Annie said as she linked arms with Rose. The new writer was quickly becoming a good friend, Annie acknowledged to herself.

Rose smiled at the gesture. She had never felt so welcome or befriended before. It was nice to have someone to talk to and hang out with. 'It's good to have a…friend,' Rose thought to herself. Annie _was_ a friend, she realized, and that didn't bother her…at all. Rose smiled again thoughtfully as she and Annie headed out the door.

Just as they stepped out of the doorway, Rose saw Rene about to round the corner. However, she wasn't the only one who felt the other's presence, as Rene slightly turned his head. Their eyes met and held for a fraction of a second before he finally turned the corner. 

Rose let out a sigh that was clearly full of remorse, and Annie fought to keep from commenting. She witnessed everything that had just happened and wanted to urge the girl to chase after him and talk things out, but she refused to mess things up further. She would just let it be…that's what she kept telling herself at least. In reality, Annie wasn't sure whether or not she could stand the tension between the two rising any higher.

Annie cleared her throat, "C'mon, let's hurry up, we don't want to be late." 

"Yah," Rose replied, "we better step on it, huh?"

"Yup."

~Later that night during Randy's match~

Annie clutched the side of her chair when she saw that Randy wasn't getting up. Her heart stopped for a second, it seemed, until she saw him stirring on the floor. She let out a sigh when he started to get up, but it quickly turned into a cringe when blood ran down his face. Her eyes widened at the small but thick puddle of blood that lay on the floor where his was only moments ago.

"He's bleeding! He's not supposed to be bleeding!!" Annie yelped aloud causing Paul and David to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, and to hold her in place. The WWE probably didn't need an intern running to the ring during a live, televised event.

"It's alright. Randy'll be okay, he's a tough guy," Ric offered his comfort from across the room. 

Annie noticed Rob hesitate to continue, but pressed on anyway. She ground her teeth when she saw Rob lay him over the security wall and come down on him. Swallowing hard, Annie forced herself to continue watching. Randy landed in the seat where Mick was supposed to sit. The match continued on the monitor. At that moment, she was really glad that the monitors in the back didn't go to commercials. Then again, she was upset at the fact that she would have to suffer through watching the man she loved get the crap knocked out of him.

Annie breathed relief when she saw Randy finally come back with a drop kick. After that, she was amazed by him. She had never seen him wrestle this way. The look in his eyes could only be described as savage. J.R. was right in saying that Randy was being hardcore. She thought to herself, 'Randy is kicking ass…is it me or is getting hot in here?'. Her attention suddenly went to the visible bulge in Randy's wrestling shorts. 'Yup, it's me alright.'

The match went on and on with just as many pin falls as there were ups and downs. Just when Annie thought she was going to pull her hair out, it was over. Randy had pulled off one hell of a painful looking DDT. Annie and Paul jumped up simultaneously when they heard the bell ring. Annie ran to the trainer's room to await Randy while Paul took off toward the ring. 

By the time Randy made it to the trainer's Annie was there waiting for him. He noticed her worried face and tried to smile without making it seemed forced. He feeling a little funky after being knocked silly…go figure. 

"Are you okay?" Annie's voice brought him back to the world around him. 

"Yah, I'm…good," he said as he shook his head slightly in an attempt to clear his mind. He wasn't thinking however, and the shaking of his head caused him to veer to the left a little bit. Luckily Paul was there to hold him up and lead him to a bench to be bandaged.

Breanne opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off when Rob, followed by Stephanie entered the room. Stephanie noticed the look of fright riding Annie's features, "Don't worry. It's a head wound, he probably has a concussion, but believe me, it looks a lot worse than it really is."

Annie nodded her head in comprehension, "I know, but," she paused and stole a glimpse at Randy. He was being cleaned up and bandaged on the other side of the room. "He just looked so…"

"Bloody?" Stephanie asked, trying to finish the sentence.

"Yah," Annie replied with a small chuckle. That had been exactly the word she was looking for, but hearing the word 'bloody' used so light heartedly to describe someone just sounded funny for some reason. For a moment she wondered if she hadn't hit _her_ head on something on the way over.

Bandage in place, Randy got up from where he sat on the bench. As soon as the path between he and Annie was cleared, she was in his arms, then her lips were on his mouth. He leaned into the kiss, noticing how desperate it was. 

Randy didn't really feel too bad anymore. He was tired, but not too tired to pick up his fiancé and carry her out of the room, much to her discontent, of course. Paul and Stephanie followed behind to make sure he didn't run into anything on his way to Evolution's dressing room. 

Annie kissed him again as they reached the door, this time less desperately, and more passionately. Wantonly. Randy's eyebrow shot up as he looked down at her, "Maybe I should get the shit kicked out of me more often. I'm liking the effect it has on you," he smirked.

"I swear. You could probably get ran over by a bulldozer and you'd still be smirking!" she teased. "Besides, I've never seen you like that before. You looked…you were so…Fuck it!" She said as she seized his lips again. "I'm going to get my things, you do the same because I want to go. NOW!"

"Yes ma'am!" Randy saluted her as he grabbed his things. He'd never seen Annie so…he shuttered. Tonight would be good. Randy grabbed his things and headed for the door. 

Halfway down the hall, he bumped into Rene. "Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you had the night off?"

"I did," he admitted. 

"Then why are you here, man? If I had the night off, I'd take it. I'd be at the hotel and me and Annie would-"

"Yah, I know," Rene said, not wanting to hear anything else. "I'm here because I needed to talk to you."

Randy's brow furrowed, "What's up?"

"Well, uh, first of all, great match," Rene said a bit nervously.

"Uh-huh…and now what did you need?" He didn't know why Rene was acting so strange lately, but he had a good idea that it had a lot to do with a certain new female writer.

Rene exhaled shortly. He didn't know how to word his question. He looked around for a minute before giving up, "Never mind, man," he said as he started to walk off.

"C'mon Rene, just ask. I already know what it's about. I thought you said you didn't want women problems," Randy said, causing Rene to turn back around to face him.

"I know what I said, and I don't want them, but I've got them anyway," Rene conceded.

"Well, tell me about 'em. Walk and talk," he smiled as they started walking, taking the long way to Annie's office.

"You're right. It's about Rose."

"Okay. Are you pissed off about her pushing you over? Because she didn't know you couldn't sw-"

"No, it's not about that," Rene interjected. 

"Really? So you don't care that she almost killed you? Wow, you do have it bad."

"Shut up, Randy," Rene rolled his eyes.

"Okay, okay. Seriously, dude, what's going on? And I don't mean to be a dick, but spit it out, because my head still hurts pretty bad."

With that, the rambling of an insane wrestler began, "Yah. I know. It's just that I don't know how to talk to her without pissing her off. I mean, I did it on purpose a couple times, but I was just messing with her, you know? Well…actually, on her first night, I was just in a bad mood, but the other times I just couldn't help walking up to her, and when I got there I didn't know what to say or how to apologize so I just pestered her and now…"

"And now it seems pointless because she'd just as soon push off a boat then look at you," Randy said with a chuckle. He liked the little spin he had just put on that phrase.

Rene slumped his shoulders a little bit, "Yup."

"Listen, you want my advice?" 

"Depends…is it good?"

"Of course it's good! Look who you're talking to!"

"Okay. Okay. Whatever, man," Rene said putting his hands up in apologetic defense.

"That's right," Randy nodded as they continued walking, "My advice is to leave her alone for a little while. Give her some time to get adjusted here, then approach her. Who knows, maybe by then she won't feel the need to push you away anymore."

Rene laughed slightly, he knew exactly what he meant by, 'push you away', "That's not cool. Can we drop the boat thing already? Seriously."

Randy let out a breath as if he were giving in, "No. Not yet, it's still too funny. I mean come on! She pushed you off a boat!"

"I know! I was there!" he said before they both gave into the hilarity of it. Rene had been afraid he was going to drown at the time, but the thought that he had pissed someone off to the point of literally being thrown off a boat _was _funny. Even he had to admit that.

"I'll see ya later, dude," Randy said as he caught his breath. They had finally made it to Annie's office.

"Alright," Rene nodded as he walked away and made his way to his rental. He'd take Randy's advice and leave Rose alone for a while. Or well, he'd try at least. If he could remember correctly, he had been trying to do that all along, but his feet wouldn't listen.

~~~

Rose walked cautiously down the hall. The show had ended a couple of hours ago. It was late, but she wanted to be sure she wouldn't have any run ins with Rene when she left. She was determined to avoid him and the confrontation and added stress that was usually associated with him.

She walked out of the double doors, half expecting him to be there. When she didn't see any sight of him, she didn't feel the relief she had been expecting to experience. Instead, it was more like disappointment. She didn't know why, but she was disappointed that he wasn't there. Had part of her actually wanted to talk to him…to see him? 'No. No, I'm just surprised that I could actually go through one Monday night without having to face him,' she reasoned in her mind as her taxi pulled up.

She wouldn't think about it. Rose was determined to get things together. She had been thinking about it all night. Rose was going to devote all of the time she could to her work. She was doing fairly well already. The whole Chris/Trish thing tonight had been her idea. She had been the one to suggest that part where their friends tell them different things, and by the time Trish get there, Chris be gone. 

Rose sighed to herself in her cab, "It's official, Rosalyn Bryant. You read too many damn romance novels." With that she lay her head back and relaxed as the cab driver made his way through the city to her hotel.

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Okay, this is ten pages long, lol. Hope you liked it and I really hope I'm doing better. Review and tell me please!

Pammi


	7. Down At the Pool

Hey, you guys, thanks for the feedback. Don't worry, I'm not going to change what happened, lol. I'm just going to put more detail in the earlier chapters. I've already uploaded them, and you can check 'em out if you feel like it. I also fixed some of the grammar problems I found. 

Anyway, college starts back tomorrow! *blah* I hope this semester isn't as shitty as the last one, lol. Oh well, I'm done blabbing at the moment, here's the new chapter!

Chapter Six: Down At the Pool 

Rose smiled as she left her room. Her hotel had an inside swimming pool, and she planned to take full advantage of it before leaving for Wisconsin on Saturday. She wrapped her towel around her waist and walked out the door. It was nine o'clock at night, and Rose was hoping the pool would be sort of deserted by now. She liked having the pool to herself. A lot of people would mean less room to swim freely and more chances of being seen in a bathing suit.

Five minutes later, Rose was standing at the ledge of the swimming pool. Much to her favor, she was alone, save for an older couple, probably in their fifties, lounging in the 3ft. level. Rose gave them a polite nod before walking toward the deeper end. She cast off her towel and climbed the small diving board they had. Stretching her arms high in the air, Rose leaned forward and dove in.

She reveled in the feel of being back in the water. She loved to swim, loved the way her body felt as it plunged through the water. Underwater was her favorite, not that swimming on her back wasn't fun. Underwater swimming always made her feel like she was flying. 

Hell, ever since her first day in a public pool, swimming had become almost a second nature to her. 'If only I could master driving the way I've mastered swimming, I'd be set,' she thought to herself as she pushed off the floor of the pool and emerged to take a breath. She was unaware of the crystal blue eyes that watched her from the entrance.

Rose turned over on her back gracefully. She closed her eyes as she seemingly effortlessly backstroked toward the 5ft level. She breathed deeply, "Now, this is what I call relaxation," she whispered to herself. It was now nine-thirty, and the older couple had left. The observer, however, had not.

He had moved closer, actually, but still kept his distance from the water. He sat down on a nearby bench, "You make it look so easy."

Rose's eyes snapped open, but she remained steady in the water. She turned her head, still laying on her back, to see Rene sitting on one of the nearby benches. He was wearing a t-shirt , a pair of black exercise shorts, and a pair of Nike's. She let out a sigh. He didn't look like he came there to torment her and she decided that she wouldn't be the one to start the fight today. Rose closed her eyes and began to move again, "I've been swimming for a long time. Since I was ten."

"Oh," Rene replied as he observed how well she handled herself in the water. She looked like a mermaid or something. He let out a small laugh as the sudden image of Rose with a fin popped into his head.

"What?" Rose asked immediately thinking he was laughing at her.

"What?" he paused, choosing his dialog carefully, "I was just thinking about something funny, that's all."

"Oh. So…what are you doing here?" she said as she finally decided to turn over and breast stroke to the side of pool his bench was located on. He was silent as she swam toward him. It was an awkward silence that seemed to last minutes longer than it really did.

"I was on my way to my room. I just got done at the gym. I didn't know you were staying here," he added as she continued to swim toward him.

"I didn't know you were staying here either. I don't leave much unless there's a meeting or something," she admitted as she finally reached the edge of the pool.

"So, is this what you do in your spare time," Rene asked trying to make conversation, for once, without starting a fight.

"Well, not lately, but I wish I had more time to do it," she observed him for a minute. She decided to ask a question of her own, "Your not much of a swimmer are you?" She hoped he wouldn't take her question the wrong way. She hadn't meant it as an insult.

Rene looked around before he answered. He actually looked venerable for a second, "No, not really. I was always too busy wrestling to worry about swimming. The first time I got into a pool was the last. My best friend pushed me in and I almost drowned."

Rose's eyes widened a little bit, then she gave a small smile, "That's understandable, but you shouldn't let something like that keep you from learning. It's really fun, besides, it really helps to get you relaxed. Or it helps me, at least."

Rene nodded as she began to climb the ladder and get out of the pool. He fought to keep his mouth from dropping. He swallowed hard, she looked stunning. She wore a two piece, pink bikini. Her hair was matted down with water, and her body was dripping wet. Her emerald eyes seemed to stand out more without any make up on her face. 

He could see the slight abs and muscular arms and legs…good lord, the legs; Long and muscular, Hell, her feet were even sexy. They were small with a medium arch, and painted toenails to match her suit and fingernails. She walked toward where he was sitting as she wrapped her white towel around her body. She then surprised him by sitting beside him on the bench.

"Rene," she took a breath and paused as he turned his head to face her. She was clearly thinking of the right words. She wanted to apologize, and although she had been wanting to avoid him, she felt it was now or never. "Rene," she repeated, "I want you know I'm really sorry for pushing you off the boat. I mean, I'm usually not psycho, but I don't know what happened."

"It's probably my fault. I seem to bring out the worst in you," he replied with a hint of teasing in his voice, but for the most part, he was serious.

Rose smiled slightly, "Well…you're not right now," she added placing a small hand on is shoulder, a gesture that she didn't even notice she had done. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for almost drowning you, and that if you still want to start over, I'd be more than happy to give it a shot."

Rene nodded, "Well, you made up for almost drowning me by jumping in and saving my sorry ass, so don't worry about it," he paused, "And yeah, I'd love to start over," he smiled sincerely.

Rose smiled and took the hand she had on his shoulder and extended to him, "Well, okay then. I'm Rose Bryant."

"I'm Rene Goguen (for those of you who don't already know, that's his real last name). It's nice to meet you, Rose," he said with a smile as they shook hands.

It was silent for a moment before Rene broke it, "So, are you ever going to tell me why you always take a cab home from the arenas?"

Rose bit her bottom lip, trying to keep from over reacting and getting defensive. She looked down so that he couldn't see her face. Quickly and quietly she answered, "Ican'tdrive." It came out as an inaudible mumble.

"What?" Rene ducked his head lower, thinking he must have heard her wrong.

Rose took a breath before speaking up, "I said I can't drive." 

"Oh. Why not? No one to teach you?" he asked simply, like it was no big deal.

Much to Rose's surprise and relief, he didn't ridicule her or laugh. She suddenly didn't feel ashamed anymore and she looked up, "Yah, something like that. I have a permit though. Annie said she'd teach me, but she's so busy, I don't know when."

Rene looked down at her. At first he'd thought she might be in her early twenties, but with finding out that she didn't know how to drive, he thought she might be younger. "How old are you, Rose?" 

Rose bit her lip again, but remembered that he had just turned twenty, "I'm eighteen," she confessed.

Rene's eyebrows shot up before he smiled widely, "And they hired you as a writer? How did you manage that? You must be pretty talented," he said in astonishment.

Rose blushed slightly at his compliment. She wasn't used to people saying anything to her or even talking to her for that matter, much less complimenting her, "I sent in a résumé that stated I was twenty-one and a sample of my writing. When they read my sample, they gave me a call. I told Vince and Stephanie how old I really was during my interview."

"Wow, you _must _be talented, otherwise, Vince probably would have tossed you out on your ass when he found out you lied to him," Rene said with small snicker.

"Yah, that's what I thought he was going to do, but he told me he didn't want me to waste my talent somewhere else," she smiled.

"That's awesome," he said honestly.

"Yah, I'm still in shock," Rose confessed.

There was another strange silence. Neither of them knew what else to say to the other. Rose looked around before standing up and heading toward the diving board. She wanted to swim a little more before she went back to her room. She was on the diving board, stretching her arms upward, when she heard Rene speak again.

"You're going to do that when there's no life guard?" he asked with a bit of a worried expression.

"Well, yah. There's no one here to mess me up but me, and I don't plan on letting that happen," she said before skillfully diving in. 

Rene watched her descend into the water and then dart forward underneath. Then an idea popped into his head. When Rose came up for air, he spoke again, "Rose?"

"Yah?" she took a breath as she reached the surface.

Rene paused for another minute, thinking of a way to ask, then continued, "Would you mind teaching me to swim?……I could teach you to drive," he finally managed.

Rose furrowed her brow, considering it for a few minutes. She didn't see why not. It might help them establish some kind of friendship and ease the tension between them. Coming to a decision Rose answered him, "Sure," she said with a smile, "When do you want to start?"

Rene thought for a minute. He had stayed in New York to do some signings, but all of that was finished up now. He **_was_** going to leave tomorrow and fly out, but he could postpone that for a day, he reasoned, "I'm not busy tomorrow…are you?" 

"Let's see, today is Thursday, all the meetings are done……nope," she concluded.

"Okay, then I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked.

"Well sure, but now that I think of it, tomorrow the pool will be crowded, it being the weekend and all, especially during the day," she thought aloud.

"What's your point?" he asked confused as he stood up from where he sat. He thought he was going to be going back up to his room…he thought wrong.

"Well, I'm just saying, the pool's clear _now_. You want to start your first lesson?"

Rene's voice sounded a bit uneven, "I guess…"

Rose smiled, "Then come on. Take off you shirt and your shoes, and get in here. I'll teach you the basics. It'll only take a few minutes."

Rene shrugged his shoulders and did as he was told. Meanwhile, Rose swam over toward the ladder that led into the 5ft water. Rene was six foot something, she was sure, so he could probably start off somewhere between 5 and 6 feet deep water.

"Okay…now what?" Rene asked as he was done taking off his shirt and shoes and setting them aside.

"Now, you get in," she smiled easily. She noticed him hesitate, "You're taller than the depth, Rene, c'mon," she splashed him with some of the cool water, "get in."

Rene smiled and let out an amused breath as he climbed into the pool. It did feel good, he had to admit. Once in, Rose came up beside him. He was suddenly very aware of both of their bodies and the lack of clothes present, but he fought to keep his composure.

"Okay, I want you lean back into my arms," Rose instructed as she moved herself into a standing position next to his side. 

"You're going to hold me up?" Rene almost laughed.

"We're in water, silly. It's almost like being in space, gravity doesn't really hold a lot relevance here," she calmed his doubt.

"Okay…" he trailed off as he leaned back slowly, cautiously, tensely. As soon as his he felt his feet leave the floor, he shot up again, hesitant to let go of his foothold.

Rose laughed, "It's okay, that's supposed to happen."

"I know…I'm just not comfortable with it," he admitted.

Rose let out a slow calm breath, "You're too tense. Close your eyes okay?"

"Close my eyes, how do I know you're not going to try and drown me again," he teased, trying to stall.

"Shut up! Forgive and forget, remember?" she laughed, "Now close your eyes, damn it!"

"Okay, okay," he conceded as he closed his eyes and awaited her next instruction.

"Alright, good. I want you to relax every muscle in your body, except your lungs. I want you to take slow, deep breaths."

Rene did what she said and felt himself becoming more comfortable with his surroundings, "Okay, this isn't so bad, I guess."

"Good, now I want you to lean back like you did a minute ago, but this time don't get nervous when your feet leave the floor. I'm here, and I'm holding you up, so it's all good, okay?"

"Gotchya," he said slowly as leaned back and allowed his body to float above the floor. He could feel her arms lightly underneath his back. The surge it sent through him almost caused him to panic again, but he quickly shut off that part of his thought process.

"Good, that's much better. Now, I want you to hold your next breath, okay?" Rose instructed. When he did as she told him, she continued, "Now, exhale slowly. This is how you stay afloat before you start to backstroke, by inhaling slowly, holding it for a while, then exhaling."

"_Before_ I start to backstroke?" he questioned as he exhaled. He thought _this_ was the lesson.

Rose smiled as she kept her arms lightly in place underneath him, "Yah, well the key to backstroking, is well…stroking," she laughed, then removed her arms skillfully, without him noticing and continued to explain, "All you need to do is move your legs methodically and then move your arms backward. You saw me earlier didn't you?"

"Yah, I saw you. Is that all I do?" he asked, skeptical.

"Yup. Do you want to try it?" she asked.

"Well yah, but you're still holding me up," he exhaled again.

Rose raised her hands out of the water and above her head, "No, I'm not," she smiled causing Rene's eyes to shoot open and for him to lose his balance.

She laughed out loud, "You were doing so good!" she whined.

"When did you let go?" he asked a bit flustered.

"Well, I let go while I was telling you how to backstroke," she informed him. "So, for about five minutes you were totally on your own. Good job."

Rene shook his head, "You could have warned me, you know?"

"Why? You were doing such a great job keeping yourself up," she complimented.

Rene smiled sideways, almost boyishly at her praise. Rose suddenly felt very warm, which brought to her attention how close they were. Their eyes locked and their breaths became quiet, but deep. His head was bent down toward her, and the water dripped off of his spiked hair. The look in each of their eyes was intense.

Rose was only 6 in. from his face…from his lips. Memories of the kiss they had shared flooded into her mind and she longed to experience it again. She felt their bodies getting closer and she knew he must have sensed it too, because they both forced themselves to look away quickly.

Rene cleared his throat, "It's getting late, we better call it a night."

Rose nodded her head in reply as he turned and climbed up the ladder and collected his things. She followed behind him and grabbed her towel, feeling the need to cover up. "I'll see you tomorrow?" she questioned.

"Yeah. What time do you want to start your first driving lesson?" he asked as he pulled his shirt over his head and they started walking out of the pool area.

"How does one sound?" she said as they made their way inside the elevator.

"Sounds good to me. Where do you want to meet?" he asked as they both leaned in to push their floors' buttons. They both became very still as their bodies brushed gently, leaving just enough space to breath. It became silent, and once again, they both suddenly backed away from the other.

"We could meet in the lobby," she suggested, breaking the ice.

"The lobby it is," he said quickly, "See you then," he bid as the elevator opened to his floor and he exited and turned to go to his room.

"See you then," she said in almost a whisper as the doors slid shut. She closed her eyes and sighed as she leaned against the wall of the elevator. She could hear her heart pounding quickly and loudly in her ears. They had almost kissed, not once, but twice. She couldn't deny that she was and always had been somewhat attracted to him. 

She didn't know why…or well…**_yes she did_**. Something about men with brown hair and blue eyes always got her heartbeat to quicken. She found herself attracted to taller, somewhat muscular guys. However, she had always been too chicken to confront them. She just stayed in the shadows and watched, assuring herself that it was better that way because she wouldn't be around long anyway. Rose always moved, and she knew men would just cause her more grief. They would only get in the way, no matter how cute they were.

With Rene, however, she couldn't use the same excuses, because she knew that she would be staying with the WWE, and so would he. Rose shook her head as the doors slid open and she exited to her floor. She continued thinking as she walked down the hall and to her room. She had a feeling, now that fighting with Rene wasn't a problem, her growing attraction to him might become one. 

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Okay, I ended the feud for two reasons. 1) One of you already saw into the future and knew that the whole swimming/driving deal was coming, lol. And 2) Because, if you've read 'The Intern and the Orton', you know I like to cut to the chase, because **_I_** can't even stand that much angsty torment, lol. And I guess there's a third reason so…3) Because I think this will help me get things rolling in the story. 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll update ASAP. I hope to have it out sometime tomorrow after class or Saturday before I go to work. Now, REVIEW DAGUMMIT! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YA'LL THINK SO TELL ME GOSH DARN IT!

Pammi 


	8. Driving 101

Hey you guys!! I'm sooooooo happy ya'll liked that chapter!! I've got some more motivation now, so I'm here to write the next chapter! Kick back, relax, and read! 

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING WWE AND THAT INCLUDES ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR WWE. 

**__**

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS RATED 'R'/NC-17, FOR SEXUAL CONTENT. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT. 

Chapter Seven: Driving 101

Rose slowly dialed Annie's number. She didn't know why she was calling, really. It wasn't as if she had anything really important to tell her. "I'm just calling to tell her that I don't need driving lessons from her so she won't schedule anything," she confirmed to herself. 

Rose let out a sigh, she knew that was a lie. It was pretty bad when you felt like you had to lie to yourself, and Rose knew that. She considered Annie a friend, and she admitted her real motives as she sat waiting for someone to pick up. She was calling Annie because she wanted to tell her about everything that had happened last night at the pool. She wanted to confide in someone.

"Hello?" Annie's voice was heard over the other end, bringing Rose out of her mulling.

"Hey, Annie. It's me, Rose," she began.

"Oh, hey Rose! How's everything going?" Annie chirped, obviously in a good mood.

"Um, pretty good. I just wanted to tell you that I didn't need any driving lessons…" Rose stated, hoping Annie wouldn't ask her for a reason. She knew that if asked, she would spill everything. And not just the deal between her and Rene and how it came about, but also everything in between. From her growing and confused feelings for him to their near kissing experiences. She heard Annie's voice, but couldn't make out what she said, "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

"I said, why not? I thought you were looking forward to learning," Annie said, confused.

"I am looking forward to learning, but someone else offered to teach me yesterday, and I thought it would be more convenient for everybody if I took them up on their offer," Rose was careful not to mention who the 'some one' was.

"That's great! So who is it?" Annie asked nonchalantly.

Rose swallowed and answered quietly in almost a whisper, "Rene."

Annie took a minute to process what she heard, then decided she must have heard wrong. "What did you say? I could have sworn you said Rene," she said with a small laugh.

"I did," was the short soft reply. Rose could almost see Annie's widened eyes.

"WHAT?!? I thought you two **_hated_** each other," she said in shock.

"Well we did, but-then-we-bumped-into-each-other-at-the-pool-last-night-and-now-we-have-this-deal-thing-going-on and I-," Rose was cut off from her nervous mumbling.

"Okay, Rose, honey, you're going to have to speak clearer and slower," Annie said in a calming tone.

Rose took a breath, "Okay, here's what happened." Rose told Annie all about bumping into him at the pool, and how they had decided to start over. Then she told her about the deal. She somehow managed to refrain from telling her anything too personal.

"So…are you guys…" Annie implied as she trailed off.

"NO! It's nothing like that, we're just…just…we're just trying to be friends," Rose finally managed.

"Really…" Annie said in skeptical tone, "Wow, that's great."

"Annie, I'm serious, there's nothing else going on. I mean, sure he's attractive, but he and I are not-"

"You like him, don't you," Annie stated more than asked.

"What? No! Annie-" Rose broke off when she saw what time it was. 12:45. "Shit! I gotta go, I'm suppose to meet Rene downstairs in fifteen minutes for my first lesson."

Annie beamed on her end of the line, "Well, you better get going, you don't want to keep your man waiting!"

"No, I wouldn't want to do-HEY! HE IS NOT MY MAN!!!" She exclaimed loudly.

"Okay, okay, I was just messing with you. All kidding aside, Rose, I'm really glad you two got things worked out and that you're friends now," Annie said seriously. 

"Me too. I gotta go. I'll talk to you later," Rose said in a bit of a hurry.

"Bye," Annie said before they hung up. After hanging up, she immediately called Randy to tell him what she had just learned. She'd have to rub it in that she was right, of course. She had to rub in the fact that there just might be something between Rene and Rose, if not now, then in the near future. She just had a sense about this kind of thing.

~~~

"Now, when you shift into drive, keep your foot down on the brake and then slowly take it away afterward," Rene instructed as Rose started the car.

"Got it," she smiled nervously as she turned the engine over. It was going to be really hard to keep her focus. She had realized that the moment they had gotten into the car, and she had got a woof of his scent. He smelled of fresh masculinity and some kind of light cologne.

Of course, after taking notice of his scent, she began to notice the other things about him as he had driven them to the location she'd be practicing. He wore glasses, she realized. They made him look even more sexy with his short, spiked hair and periwinkle eyes. His blue athletic T shirt and faded jeans really brought them out. Her nerves began to jump incessantly in her stomach. She was nervous about being around him, and she was even more nervous about driving while she was so distracted.

Sighing heavily, Rose shook her head and instead of putting the car in drive, she turned it back off. She couldn't do this, not like this, not here. She was suddenly very, very, uncontrollably, undeniably nervous. 

Rene looked at her in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"I can't do this," she replied, her voice shaky. She held up trembling hands to emphasize her point, but avoided making eye contact. She was ashamed of her nerves, her fear.

Rene let out a sigh, and reached for one of her shaking hands, and took her chin, raising her eyes to his, "Non peur, Rose. Leur facile, moi promettre." 

Rose swallowed hard. She had no idea what he just said, but it _sounded really_ good. 'Did he have any clue how sexy that was?' she thought before shaking her head. Rose found her voice, "What did you just say?" she asked, feeling the color rise to her cheeks as she calmly took her hand back.

Rene smiled down at her, "I said, no fear. It's easy, I promise. Now, c'mon, start it back up, there's no reason to be afraid."

He was right, they had driven pretty far out from the city. The location didn't have any heavy traffic. Rose took a deep breath and nodded her head as she turned her attention back to starting the ignition. "Okay," she said, "Let's do this!" she added in a more excited, 'ready to take on the world', tone.

Rose kept her foot on the brake as she shifted it into drive, then slowly eased it back. She flipped on her turn signal as she made a left turn off the shoulder and slowly started down the open road. "It's not so bad," she admitted with a smile.

"Nope. You're a natural," he complimented, causing her smile to widen.

Rose kept her attention on the road as she and Rene sat in a comfortable silence. She then broke that silence, "So…you really do know French, don't you?" 

"Well, I am French-Canadian," he returned with a shrug.

"Can you teach me some sometime?" she asked. Rose had always wanted to learn a foreign language. She didn't know why she hadn't pursued one in high school.

"I could, but that wasn't part of the deal," he teased.

"Well, fine then," she said as she made another turn, this time forgetting to signal.

"Watch those turn signals. They're really picky about that when you take the test," he critiqued. 

"Oops," she said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it. Just relax," he offered, "Take slow, deep breaths," he quoted her from last night's swimming lesson.

"Should I close my eyes too?" she teased, catching on to what he was doing.

"Uh…how about no?" 

Rose laughed as she began to get more comfortable and slowly started to speed up. The speed limit was 70, she was now going 55. "Is this all there is to it?"

"Pretty much. Just be glad there aren't any stop lights or a lot of traffic. Or impatient drivers," he smirked referring to the speed she was going.

"Shut up! I'll have this down in no time! You just watch!" She exclaimed happily. Her nerves were subsiding, and she was getting a feel for being behind the wheel. 

"You look pretty comfortable over there," Rene observed.

"Yah, you were right, it is easy," she smiled, stealing a side glance at him while she drove.

Time passed quickly as they continued to make small talk through a couple more comfortable silences. Rene continued to critique her when he saw something he thought she could be doing better. Rose didn't know how long they had been driving when Rene finally told her to pull into a small gas station on the side of the road. She was clueless as to where exactly they were, but as she watched Rene get out and pump the gas, she really didn't care. She looked away quickly when he started to look up, sensing some one's eyes on him.

By the time Rene had come out of the gas station from paying, Rose was already in the passenger's seat and buckled in. She didn't feel like driving anymore and was more than willing to take a break until next time.

"Burnt out already?" Rene asked as he sat in the driver's seat and turned the ignition.

"Yah, for today. How long have we been out here anyway?" she asked.

Rene's eyes widened when he looked at his watch, "About three and half hours," he said, surprise evident in his voice, "It's five."

"Wow," Rose yawned, "Where'd all the time go?"

"I don't know," he turned his head to look at her, "I knew I was getting hungry. I always eat dinner around five-thirty," he informed her.

She cracked a smile and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a loud growl. She blushed as she looked down at her stomach, "I guess we have something in common," she joked.

"Yah," he paused briefly, "Hey, you want to get something to eat on the way back to the hotel?" he questioned. For reasons unbeknownst to him, he was very nervous. Could it be that he wanted her to say yes that badly?……Nah, no way.

"Might as well," Rose said, having mulled it over as much as possible in her tired state.

"Alright, so where do you want to go?" he asked as he made a turn without signaling, which did not go unnoticed.

"Hey! You didn't signal!" Rose pointed out.

"Very good. I was just testing you," he laughed guiltily.

"Yah…right," Rose rolled her eyes.

"I know. I promise not to forget again," he crossed his heart as he spoke.

"Well, okay. But next time, I won't let you off the hook so easily," she mock threatened as she shook a finger at him.

Rene chuckled under his breath. It was a low sound that, for some reason, caused the butterflies to start swirling in Rose's stomach again. She snuck another glance at him. Taking in every detail of his form. His eyes were focused on the road, they were intense, he was obviously deep in thought. She allowed her secretive glance to travel over the different areas of his face.

His eyebrows were furrowed over the rim of his glasses, casting a shadow over his hard, square jaw line. She then traveled down to where his hands rested on the steering wheel. His long fingers were wrapped loosely around the bottom of the steering wheel. His wide, obviously strong, hands were palm up, sort of hanging by their fingers, but relaxing on his thighs. 'Very muscular thighs-'

"You never told me where you wanted to eat," Rene said bringing her out of her trance. 

Rose looked up quickly, thinking that he may have caught her staring, but he was still looking at the road. Quietly sighing in relief that he apparently hadn't notice Rose said the first idea that popped into her head, "Why don't we just grab some Chinese take out?" 

"Hmm…" Rene pretended to think about it for a sec then shrugged his shoulders, "Works for me." He continued to keep his eyes on the road. He smirked inwardly, he had caught her staring alright. He smiled slightly at the thought. At least he wasn't only one who had been staring at someone today. Only he hadn't been caught doing it. 

He snuck an unnoticed glance in her direction. How could he not stare at the beauty sitting to his right? Blonde hair, large emerald orbs, beautifully pale skin, and a gorgeous smile to top it all off. There wasn't a detail he hadn't taken in about her appearance today.

She wore a light olive green, hooded, zip-up sweat shirt over a creamy white tee. Her faded, low rise, boot-cut jeans hugged her at the waist and thighs before flaring out slightly at the bottom to reveal a pair of light brown Dockers. Even though he didn't quite understand the reasons, Rene kept finding himself aroused by her simple, comfortable style. He had fought the urge to kiss her earlier and ended up muttering words of encouragement in French instead.

He was shaken from his state of intense reflection when he heard Rose talking. He looked over to see her on her phone, ordering the take out they had agreed on earlier. He tilted his head to the side, 'Why hadn't I thought of calling ahead of time?' he asked himself. 

~~~

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Rose took a breath, "_You_ _actually liked_ that movie?" Rose asked in disbelief as she sat across from him on the floor of his hotel room. They had decided to eat together and watch a movie on pay-per view at the hotel. They had chosen his room because it was closer, and although the movie was playing in the background, neither of them paid much attention. 

"Well, yah. It was…intriguing," Rene defended himself and his movie as he chewed on his chow mien. 

"Don't get me wrong, I _LOVE_ Tom Cruise, but Vanilla Sky, sucked," Rose said in disgust at the memory of having to sit through that ridiculous movie.

"It wasn't that bad…no worse than Wild, Wild West," he reasoned.

Rose's mouth dropped, "Hey! I love that movie!" 

"I'm sorry, but **_that_** sucked. It was too unrealistic," he said shaking his head.

"And Vanilla Sky **_wasn't_** unrealistic?" she said as she instinctively hurled a pillow toward his head, wiping the amused expression off his face.

Rene glared at her before continuing with his eating. Rose sighed a breath of relief that he didn't try to get even. She looked down and continued eating her sushi. When she looked up to say something to Rene, he was nowhere in sight. Rose glanced around the room in confusion. She turned around, feeling a presence behind her, "Ren-WHOOOOAAA!" She screamed as something very cold and very solid slid painstakingly slow down her back. Ice! Rose jumped up and whirled around, allowing it to escape her shirt. 

Rene stood in front of her now, laughing hysterically at the faces she had just made. He stopped once he noticed the death glare he was receiving. He swallowed hard, "Would it help my chances of survival if I said I was sorry?"

Rose continued to glare at him as she spoke through clenched teeth, "NO!" she stated loud and clear right before she charged him. Rene saw it coming however, and kept his footing. Rose walled right into his powerful stance with an "Umph."

He smirked down at her as she looked up at him, obviously annoyed that he hadn't even budged, but then her eyes flashed determination as she returned his smirk. That's when he felt tickling fingers at his sides and was caught off guard. He tried to dodge left and escape her, but she stepped in his way, still tickling, "Oh, I'm sorry, does that tickle?" she laughed evilly.

Rene doubled over in uncontrollable laughter. He tried to dodge again and again, each time he was blocked until finally he tripped over one of his carelessly placed shoes. He reflexively reached out for something to grab onto, that something happened to be a very clumsy Rose who just ended up falling with him. 

Rene hit the floor with a thud, and Rose landed on him with another "umph" and a slight "Uuughuh," as she hit her head against the end table with a loud clack. 

~Dream Sequence! Rose just got knocked the fuck out!~

Slowly, coming to her senses, Rose began to get up. She slowly lifted her head, her loose hair falling down her face toward a slightly wincing Rene, "Are you okay? I'm such a clu-" she stopped when he opened his eyes and their gazes locked. 

Everything seemed to fade away from Rose except for the sound of their slow and strained, but steady breathing and the feel of Rene's beating chest against her breasts. She could feel the muscles that lie just beneath her, could see the same desire in his eyes as she felt running through her veins. 

Rose licked her lips subconsciously as she thought of the nights she had stayed up longing for his kiss. Longing to feel his arms around her waist pulling her closer to him. And now that she was mere inches from his face, from his warm lips, she felt herself succumbing to that longing as her head bent slowly downward.

Rose could feel the blood pumping through his veins. She noticed his body tense as her hair slightly grazed his cheek. His skin was on fire every where their bodies touched. She felt his warm breath on her pouting lips as she leaned in closer. She could feel desire grip both of them as he hungrily met her halfway and seized her mouth. 

His arms moved instinctively around her waist as she felt herself fall into him, giving herself away to the passion of their kiss. Her soft lips parted, allowing him access to explore her mouth for the second time since they'd known each other. Rose moved her hands down his waist and struggled to get them under his shirt.

She moaned as she felt them moving to a sitting position. They now sat leaning against the foot of the bed, Rose straddling Rene. She began to grind her hips against his arousal. As she felt him stroke her nipples through the thin fabric of her shirt. 

Rose reached for the clasp of his pants and undid the buttons. She slid her hand under his boxers and began to instinctively stroke his sack as she continued to grind into him. She heard him begin to moan, "Rose, wake up."

~End Sequence, muwahhahahah~

Rose's eyes shot open, "What?" she asked still coming out of the haze of a very naughty dream.

"Are you okay, Rose? I thought I was going to have call 911 or something," Rene said, his tone worried.

Rose sat up fully from where she now lay on the bed. As soon as she did, she felt pain course through her head. "What happened?" 

"You hit your head when I pulled you down with me. Remember?" he asked still worried, and feeling guilty for grabbing her like he did when he had started to fall. He hadn't meant to, it was a reflex.

"Oh, yah," she said, finally coming back to her senses. She looked up to see his expression, and fought to keep herself from blushing. She'd just had a really…well, it wasn't a disturbing dream, but still…

"I'm really sorry about that, I didn't mean-"

"It's okay, it was my fault. It's what I get for picking fights," she smiled sweetly before yawning. "I better get going. It's getting late, and we both have early flights she said as she stood up.

"Okay, can you make it to your room okay? I mean, are you sure you're okay?" he questioned again to be sure.

"Yes, yes. I'm okay, just a bump," she reassured.

"Alright then," he led her to the door and handed her jacket to her.

"I'll see ya Monday," she said before leaving.

"See ya," Rene replied before she walked out of the door and down the hall. He shut the door. She may have left the room, but he could still feel her body against him from where she had been knocked out on top of him. He could still feel her soft, labored breath against neck and her parted lips against his skin. With a sigh he headed to the bathroom. It was time for a cold shower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, ya'll. So there you have it. I hope that chapter was good. I don't know where the smut scene came from, but hey, there's nothing like a naughty dream to get the heart racing and the blood flowing, lol. I think I'm getting better at writing smut, lol. 

REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!

Pammi


	9. Gossip Folks

Alright!!!! I finally got my site updated with my responses to chapter eight reviews!! Woo-hoo! I actually did something productive, lol. Anyway, here's the new chapter! 

Chapter Eight: Gossip Folks 

Annie threw her planner across the room. She was tired at trying to keep up with her busy schedule. She was planning the events, going to the conferences, helping to set up the storylines, the list went on and on. She let out a weary sigh before putting on her best mask. 

She had just called Rose to come to her office. Annie wanted to get the '411' so to speak, about her first driving lesson. She jumped when she heard a knock at the door, not expecting Rose to get there so soon.

"Annie? Can I come in? It's me, Rose."

Annie took in a deep breath, still a bit stressed, "Um, yes c-come in," she stuttered, her mind becoming a little fuzzy.

"You wanted to see me? Is everything okay with the show?" Rose asked softly, sensing something wasn't quite right.

Annie cleared her throat, noticing the look on Rose's face, as she shook her head slightly to clear it. She took a short, but deep breath, "Yes," she forced a smile, "I wanted to know what happened during your driving lessons with Rene."

"Oh," Rose blushed as she shyly glanced down at the floor. 'Oh God, why am I blushing?' she asked herself as her eyes darted around the room. 

Annie took notice of the slight coloring of the young writer's cheeks, "Is there something I should know," Annie asked, insinuatingly. 

"Huh? NO!" Rose answered too quickly.

Annie's eyes widened, "What happened? Did you guys kiss or something??" 

"NO…No. Nothing like that, I've just…" Rose trailed off, not wanting to talk about it anymore.

"C'mon! What happened? You can tell _me_," Annie pleaded. She really wanted to know something good. She desperately needed something to keep her mind off of her own little problems. Thankfully, Rose saved her from her thoughts.

Rose took Annie by the hands and walked them both over to the nearby couch to sit down. She then took a breath before speaking, "I don't know what's going on," she admitted with a sigh. "Rene and I are friends, and the driving lesson went well. He's a great teacher. It's just that I…" she trailed off, searching for the words.

Annie raised her eyebrows in question, "You just what?" she asked searching the younger girls eyes before her face fell into understanding, "You like him, don't you?"

"NO! I mean…I don't know," she answered, honestly.

"You don't know?" Annie questioned.

"We just started being friends, and I'm not sure how I feel about him. Plus, I've only known him for what? Four weeks? I mean, when he kissed me… I just don't want things to move too quickly, and even if I did…have feelings for him, I'm not even sure he'd feel the same, you know?" 

"Are you scared? Because you look like a frightened puppy," Annie grinned.

"Shut-up!" Rose rolled her eyes, "You don't understand, it's hard for me to get comfortable around people," Rose paused, preparing to give Annie the story of her life, in a nutshell. Finally she continued, "Before I came here, I was living with Ruth and Sam Livingston."

Annie's expression clearly stated, 'What does this have to do with anything?' Annie already knew Rose didn't have any parents, but she didn't understand the connection-

Rose interpreted Annie's confusion, "They were my fifteenth set of foster parents."

Annie's shot up in shock, "What? Fifteenth?"

"Yah. I moved around a lot before I finally got my own apartment five months ago. I haven't really had any friends…let alone boyfriends. And so, I guess my point is…I want to experience friendship before I tackle anything more intimate."

"Wow, Rose. I had no idea…" Annie then cracked a smile, "So that would mean that kiss in the parking lot was your first."

Rose meekly nodded her head.  
  
"Was it good, at least? You never did tell me," she prodded.

Rose beamed a smile and nodded her head, "I think so. I don't really have anything to compare it to, though." 

"Well, what did it feel like? Maybe I can tell you," Annie suggested.

Rose bit her bottom lip and looked around the room again to make sure that is was still just the two of them. "Well, when he kissed me, he bit my bottom lip really softly before he stuck his…" she giggled, "you know. And then it he licked underneath my tongue really slowly, and then I don't remember anything after that. I think I just melted," she sighed.

"Yup. It was good," Annie confirmed.

Rose smiled, and opened her mouth to say something when there was another knock, and Randy walked through. Annie smiled her brightest as he was wearing her favorite shorts. She then noticed the bandage on his forehead and the bruise on his left, inner thigh and frowned slightly.

Randy walked across the room to where Annie sat, "So, how're you lovely ladies doing tonight?" he asked in his most charming tone. His eyes moved from looking at both of them to looking directly at his fiancé. 

Rose saw the exchange, and chose that moment to excuse herself and leave the two to whatever it was they planned to do, "I better go. I have…um…stuff to do." 

Annie smiled sweetly, "Okay, Rose, I'll talk to you later!"

"Later, Rose. Come by any time," Randy waved.

Rose nodded her head as she exited the room. Smiling, she started to make her way back to her little office. She wanted to watch Rene's match. It should be coming up soon. Rose already knew what the results were going to be, but she still wanted to see it. Mainly because she had promised him she would. 

Rose started to contemplate the conversation they had shared earlier that day over the phone. She had been curious at seeing his name appear on the caller id of her cell. She figured it had something to do with his next swimming lesson. They never had set up an appointment. 

"Hello?" she had answered.

"Rose…hey it's Rene," he greeted. He had seemed a bit nervous, and Rose had wondered about that for a second before going on. 

"I know," there was a silence on the other end, "Caller ID," she explained.

"Oh."

There was another awkward silence before Rose found the guts to speak, "So…did you have a reason to call me? Is it about your next swimming lesson?"

Rene thought for a moment. Why had he called? He'd been thinking about her ever since she had left his hotel room a couple nights ago. He just found himself wanting to talk to her, or more correctly, wanting to hear her voice. He shook his head, 'Sure, swimming lessons could be a good reason,' "Um, yah. Sorry. I had one of those memory lapses. I'm getting senile in my young age."

Rose laughed at his joke, then answered the inquiry about his next lesson, "I was thinking we'd pick up where we left off Tuesday, if that's not a problem for you?" 

"Tuesday sounds good," he agreed.

"Okay, well then I'll see you later," she confirmed.

"Mm-hmm. Rose?" 

"Yes?"

Rene cleared his throat and tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, "So, are you going to watch my match tonight?"

"Well, I already know how it's going to turn out," she shrugged at his question. 

Rene paused before speaking, "Oh, yah…that's right, I forg-" 

"I'll probably watch it anyway, though. I always watch the show. Besides, I am going to be in the building after all" she laughed, slightly confused at the way his last comment sounded. Did she detect disappointment? Nah, couldn't be. Could it?

Rene took a breath, determined not to be obvious, "Cool…uh…'cause you know, it's your duty as a friend to watch all of matches and support me," he joked, putting on his fake accent. 

Rose laughed, "Okay, I get it. I promise to watch, Rene," she smiled into her phone, "What are friends for, right?"

"Right," Rene agreed.

"Okay, so I'll see you later. I've got to get to my meeting."

"Right, see you later."

And with that, their phone call had ended. Rose thought back to how strange it was. She had felt the instant set of butterflies in her stomach that had become persistent ever since the kiss. Rose sighed, the butterflies had been even more intense on the phone call. She knew it had to do with the dream she had succumbed to when she was knocked out. 

Rose shook her head. She would not think of that right now. There were more important things to do right now. However, try as she might, she couldn't get him out of her head. She wondered why she hadn't seen him yet tonight, then she wondered why she even cared. They were just friends. 

She may be attracted to him, but she had already decided that she didn't want to go any further than friendship. That was the way things had to be. That's the way things needed to stay. Right? Of course. 'I wouldn't mind another kiss though,' Rose admitted to herself before putting up her mental walls. 

It was the only way she could stop the thoughts. When she finally did stop thinking about Rene, Rose realized that she had passed her office, and would miss the match if she didn't hurry up and get there. 

Finally making it to her monitor, Rose sat quietly and watched Rene make his way down the ramp. She pretty well _drunk_ in the sight of him. She looked at his face, he looked older in some ways, but you could tell he was young. 

While his faced took on both mature and young characteristics, his body did not. It did not seem like the body of a twenty-year old. Hell, Rose had been shocked to discover he was nineteen when she first saw him in the ring. It didn't seem like that long, but it _had_ been about a year ago when she'd seen him debut. 

Her eyes moved from his chest to his legs. They were huge. Not in a bad way though, she nearly giggled. Rose refused to ponder her motives for, 'checking him out' like she was, but she couldn't seem to stop. _Especially_ when it came to his legs. They were thick and muscled. Powerful. 

She suddenly wondered how they would feel under her fingertips. 'Shit! Rosalyn Bryant! Stop thinking about it!' she scolded herself as she forced her eyes to take in the entire match, and not just the one participant. 

When the match was over, she was undecided on whether or not she should go see him and tell him 'Good job,' or stay in her office where it was safe. Rose did the wiser thing for once, and stayed put. She had important things to do, she kept telling herself.

~~~

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Randy asked his fiancé. She was looking a little pale, and it had him worried.

"Nothing's wrong," she answered a little too quickly, causing Randy to react.

"Annie…?" he asked in a tone that clearly stated, 'I know you're not telling me something'.

Annie smiled innocently, before realizing he wasn't buying it. She let out a sigh, "I can't get anything past you, can I?"

"Nope. Now tell me what's going on," he said, his voice soft yet demanding.

"I'm just a little stressed. All of these new responsibilities are becoming a bit…overwhelming," she admitted with reluctance. She hated having to say that things were too much. She really prided herself as being a hard worker and dedicated, and she was. The only problem was that sometimes, she just didn't know when to quit or turn down extra responsibilities. Every responsibility Eric had offered her, she had accepted. 

Randy was silent for a moment, his face showed a portion of his concern. He stepped toward her and engulfed her in his embrace. His words were soft, "Why don't you lay down on that couch over there and take it easy?" 

"Randy, I can't. I have to-"

He covered her mouth with his. His kiss was reassuring and sweet, full of love and a bit of worried frustration. He spoke against her lips, "Go lay down, or I'll tie you down myself. You have an entire week to get caught up, Annie. You don't have push yourself. Eric will understand if one of your projects are late. Just do the really important things first, then tackle the little things." 

Annie sighed and let herself collapse into him in surrender, "Yes, sir."

Randy smiled down at her, "Okay. I'll be back after the show, and if you're not on that couch sound asleep when I get back here, there's going to be Hell to pay," he mock threatened.

Annie smiled and pecked him lightly on the lips, "Have I told you I love you?"

"Hmm…only about a million times," he gathered.

"Well, this is a million and one. I love you, Randy Keith Orton," she beamed up at him.

"I love you too, beautiful," he kissed her forehead, "I gotta go now. I'll see you in a little while," he said as he picked her up bridal style and laid her down on the couch. "Relax, alright?"

"Okay," she agreed simply.

With that, he turned and exited the room, but not before looking back and flashing his infamous Randy smile. Annie began to giggle, but a yawn interrupted her, and she suddenly found it very difficult to stay awake.

~~~

Rene made his way to the soda machines. He put in his quarters and collected his water. He looked at the time: 11:45. Raw was almost over. The main event had just started. He was about to walk back to his locker room and get dressed when a thought struck him. He stopped in his tracks and turned around, going the other direction. 

Five minutes later, he found himself outside of Rose's office. He knocked, hoping she hadn't left yet. When she opened the door, Rene momentarily found himself at a loss for words. He could tell she had to attend a meeting earlier. 

She wore her hair clipped up behind her head. A few loose tendrils graced her face angelically. She wore a lavender blouse that buttoned up to the neck, however, she had left the top two unbuttoned, revealing a silver chain around her neck. 

Her pants were creamy white with a thin, silver-chain belt that hung loosely through her pant loops. Her shoes were a pair of brown open toe heals that revealed tiny, flawless feet and lavender toe nails. He noted the change of nail polish. 

She smiled up at him now as she greeted him, "Hey Rene, great match," she hesitated. "So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?"

Rene came back to the present, "Thanks, I was just on my way to my locker room, and I was wondering if you needed a ride back to the hotel. Hell, maybe you could drive."

Rose looked at him nervously for a moment, "You don't have to give me a ride, Rene. I can just take a-"

"I know, but at least with me you won't have to pay. Besides, I don't mind," he smiled honestly. 

Rose thought about it for a few minutes before answering, still somewhat uncertain, "Well…if you're sure it's no trouble."

"No trouble at all," he assured her.

"I'll just get my stuff together then and meet you at the exit," Rose said, her voice faltering a little.

Rene nodded and headed off to get his things. His stomach was doing flips, and he tried to convince himself that it was just the tuna from earlier talking. (LOL. TUUUUUUNAAAAAAAAAA! LMAO. Sorry about that ya'll, back to the story).

~~~

Rose leaned against the banister of the exit doors. She immediately straightened herself when she saw Rene approaching. She had nearly drooled at the sight of him earlier when he came to her door wearing nothing more than a pair of button-up workout pants and tennis shoes.

Now, she was sure she could feel the slightest bit of moisture at the corner of her mouth. She quickly licked her lips. He had his hair spiked, glasses on, dark jeans, and a black WWE logo hoody. He looked absolutely edible-Rose mentally slapped herself, cringing inwardly at her bad, bad train of thoughts. 

She took a deep breath and forced herself to act natural. Besides, there wasn't a reason for her to act any other way, anyhow. 'You don't think of him in that way, remember?' she reminded herself. Her inner control finally woke up, and for the first time in two days, she was able to think clearly.

"Ready to go?" Rene asked as he finally made it to the doors.

"Yup," she said as they both walked out of the building and toward Rene's rental.

~~~

Randy scooped Annie up in his arms. She stirred slightly, but remained asleep.

"Damn, she's really out of it, isn't she?" Dave pointed out.

"Yah, she's been under a lot of pressure lately, I think," Randy let out a worried sigh.

"Why didn't she tell me she was having trouble juggling everything? She didn't have to take up that spot on the creative team," Stephanie interjected sympathetically as she felt Paul squeeze her shoulders affectionately. Silently expressing his concern for her. He had seen Steph the exact same way he was seeing Annie now: Completely and utterly exhausted.

"I don't know," Randy admitted, "Probably just didn't want to disappoint anyone," Randy figured. 

Paul, Dave, Ric, and Stephanie all nodded in understanding before Randy spoke again, "I'm gonna head out of here. I'll see you guys on Wednesday."

"See you," they all said as he left the room with Annie sleeping in his arms.

Randy was worried about her. He hadn't noticed how much she pushed herself when it came to her job. He supposed the same could be said by her about him. It was true, he loved his job, and did work very hard to do well. He sighed as he deposited Annie into the passenger seat and buckled her in. She let out a muffled sound before her eyes blinked open.

"Hey," she cooed when she saw Randy leaning over her.

"Hey," he replied before giving her a light kiss. Annie responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and crushing him to her. She deepened their kiss, her need for him suddenly finding it's way to the surface. He was the one thing on this planet that made her feel completely and totally at peace. 

Randy, who was shocked at her leap from asleep to all over him, took a moment to adjust to the sudden change before slipping his hands under her shirt. He moved his fingertips skillfully over her breasts, slightly pinching her hardened buds. She let out a soft moan against his lips as she moved her hands down to his waist band and slipped her hands into his pants. He gasped when her hand enveloped his member, slightly stroking it. He was after all, still halfway out of the car.

He broke away from her, an intense look on his face. He smirked as he pulled her hand from his pants, "Not here," he said, finally able to take control. Annie gave him the puppy dog face. "Awww, you wench," he breathed, narrowing his eyes at her for looking at him like that. He hated it. 

That puppy face could do so many things to him. It could make him cave, it could make him smile, but right now, it was doing nothing but turn him on. Randy backed away and shut her door. Five seconds later, they were peeling out of the parking lot and speeding toward the hotel. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Large quantities of smut ahead, lol. Randy and Annie get it on, but something they weren't expecting happens. 

What happens next with Randy and Annie? What went on during the car ride with Rose and Rene? More importantly, what happens after the car ride??? Will Annie be able to handle all of her new responsibilities without breaking down? 

All these questions will be answered in the next chapter. In the mean time, you'll just have to wait, muwhaahahhahahaaha. Now, REVIEW DAMN IT! 

Pammi


	10. Oops

Okay, ya'll back with yet another chapter! Here goes nothing! I've got my site updated…finally, lol. I haven't got the newest reviews up, but I'll try to get some time and update again!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything WWE, that includes the superstars. 

**__**

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER INCLUDES SEXUAL CONTENT THAT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR CHLDREN UNDER THE AGE OF SEVENTEEN, OR WHATEVER. LOOK, IF YOU DON'T LIKE SMUT, THEN DON'T FUCKING READ IT! I MEAN SERIOUSLY, DON'T GO GETTING ME IN TROUBLE JUST BECAUSE YOU AREN'T OLD/MATURE ENOUGH TO HANDLE IT. IT'S JUST SEX, JEEZ. AS IF YOU CAN'T FIND IT EVERYWHERE YOU TURN ANYWAY. HELL, EVEN RECENT DISNEY MOVIES CONTAIN QUESTIONABLE INUENDOS. I MEAN, SERIOUSLY PEOPLE, COME ON! GIVE ME A BREAK, WOULD YA? 

Okay, that was long, I got carried away, lol…on with the chapter! 

Chapter Nine: "Oops"

~Randy and Annie's Hotel, fifteen minutes after peeling out of the arena's parking lot~

Annie squealed with delight as Randy threw her onto the bed. He stood there, observing her for a minute. Her long brown hair, her large blue eyes filled with desire, and her full pink lips, moist and swollen from their kisses. Randy smiled wickedly as he kicked off his tennis shoes and jumped into the bed beside her.

Annie let out a giggle before she hopped on top of him, straddling his hips, "Hi there. Come here often?" she teased.

"Mm…I can't remember? Care to jog my memory?" he smirked.

Annie tilted her head as she tread her fingers down his bare chest. She stopped at the elastic of his jogging pants, "Hmm…does this ring a bell?" she asked before she grabbed his pants by the waist and yanked them completely off. Leaving Randy in his boxers.

"Hmm…I can slightly recall something similar, but I'm still not positive," he continued to tease.

"Let's see…what can I do to make you remember?" she asked as she moved to stand over him on the bed. She started to undo the small buttons of her shirt one by one. She shrugged it off her shoulders to reveal her white lace bra. "Are you recalling any of _this_?" she asked with a mock concerned look on her face.

Randy slowly shook his head as he bit his lip, resisting the urge to grab her right then, "I'm not sure. What else do ya got?" he smirked, chewing his gum.

Annie looked up toward the ceiling and rubbed her chin, pretending to be contemplating an answer, "Oh! I know!" She declared, still standing over him. She moved her feet between his legs and wiggled her skirt down her legs, then cast it to the floor. She shook her hips, "Now what do you re-"

She never got to finish. Randy pulled her feet out from under her and sent her plopping down onto the bed. He crawled over her, their heads at the foot of the bed. He leaned down and kissed her urgently, "I think I've gotten my memory back…thanks," he breathed huskily as he treaded his kisses from her mouth to her neck. 

He reached his arms around her back, and undid her bra. He yanked it off, gently of course (lol), and pitched it clear across the room. He then smiled at her evilly before taking her exposed left nipple into his warm mouth. He stroked it attentively as she moaned in delight and began to react. 

Annie moved her hands all over his body as both fought to take control of the other. Annie finally gained the upper hand and managed to roll them over. She straddled his waist as she bent down to trail kisses from his mouth to each of his pecks to his abdomen. 

When she made it to the elastic of his boxers she let out a huff, "No. This won't do. This won't do at all," she declared before yanking them off of him, not leaving him any time to question what she was talking about. Randy gasped as took him in her mouth. She had never done that before. He wondered shortly 'What has she been reading? Who told her how to do that?' Randy couldn't think anymore as a loud, "Oh, Fuck!" escaped his mouth when he felt her tease his sack.

He was gasping for air when she finally ceased. She looked down at him for a moment before noticing that bruise from earlier. She pouted as she looked at it, "Poor baby. I guess I'll have to kiss it and make it better."

Randy's eyes widened at this new side of Annie he was seeing. He smiled when she bent down and gently kissed his bruise, tracing it slowly with her tongue for a moment before standing up and removing her white lace thong, that matched her now departed bra. Randy lay there, still shocked at the way she was taking control. 

Annie hovered just above his shaft, her heat tickling the senses of Randy's head. She reached to the nightstand and snatched a condom from the drawer. She slipped it on like an expert, then smiled before she quickly filled herself with his length.

Randy let out a loud gasp as he felt himself drown in her warmth. Annie began to move on him. She traced her hands up to his shoulders, then up his arms until they finally entwined with his hands. Randy pulled her body toward him, then flipped them over, in a move that put kama sutra to shame.

He began to move more urgently inside her as he seized her lips. His thumb lightly stoked her clit as he pumped. She moaned in his mouth as their tongues mingled and bodies began to move more fluidly. Annie felt as though she were floating for who knows how long before she felt her body reach it's peak. She felt her legs shaking, her heart pounding, her center throbbing around Randy's pulsing, pumping cock, and all of her senses tingling as she came. She began chewing quickly on the gum she didn't even know she had. She then heard Randy's moan of climax right before she felt something different. Something warm…inside of her. 

Her eyes shot open to see Randy's own wide eyed expression. She swallowed hard and looked down at their still joined middles. Randy pulled out slowly to reveal a busted Trojan condom, hanging from his member. It was now his turn to swallow hard.

"Oops," was his shaken reaction.

Annie took a couple of deep breaths to calm down, "Oops?? Oops!!! What do you mean 'OOPS!?" she squeaked in a panic.

"I mean, oops," he repeated.

"What just happened here?" she asked as Randy moved to lay next to her. Most likely to gain control of his racing thoughts as well.

He took a couple of moments to gather his thoughts, "I mean the condom busted, Annie. Which means two things: 1) You could get pregnant, and 2) We just made some hardcore lovin' to bust a Trojan. I mean, damn, Annie. I had no idea you could be so…" he trailed off, unable to keep from grinning.

"You act like it's no big deal. I could be pregnant, Randy. You don't care?" Annie asked, still in shock.

"Of course I care, Annie, but look at it from my perspective," he turned over and propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at her, "We're going to be getting married. If you get pregnant, all that means is that we don't have to wait to be parents."

Annie's features softened into a smile. She lunged up toward him, "I love you," she sighed into his shoulder.

"I love you, too. C'mere," he said as he pulled her closer to him and lay back down on the bed, "let's get some sleep, but first," he leaned down and kissed her full on the mouth, taking back his gum, "Thanks for holding that for me."

"You're welcome," she half sobbed, half laughed. She then pulled the covers up over them, purposely pulling some under her eyes. She knew she'd end up crying. She was scared, happy, and nervous at the same time. Scared because of the fact that she could get pregnant, happy because Randy didn't **_seem _**to mind, and nervous because she didn't know if she was ready to be a mother. (A/N: Cue evil laughter: muwhahahahhahahhahhaahhahah).

~Tuesday~

Rose squinted her already closed eyes as the sunlight beamed into the room and straight into her face. She could feel it warm on her cheeks. She yawned as she stretched, then opened her eyes. She looked around, not recognizing her surroundings. Her heart began to beat faster as confusion swept through her mind.

In a panic, she tried desperately to remember what happened last night and how she got there. She thought back to the arena. She had left with Rene. After getting into his rental, he had asked her if she wanted to go some where and get something to eat. She had agreed, and they had gone to a local Denny's. 

Then they had left there and, and…what? She couldn't remember anything after that. Her eyes darted around the room for hints or clues, but she found nothing. She heard a shower being turned off. She looked up toward the noise. She was in a hotel room, but whose she did not know.

The bathroom door swung open, and Rose felt herself breath out a sigh of relief before going off on the person standing in front of her. "Rene!?! Where the Hell am I, and how did I get here?" she demanded. 

Rene took a breath, a little thrown by getting yelled at first thing in the morning, "You're in my hotel room. You fell asleep last night after we left Denny's. I tried to wake you up and ask you where you were staying, but you wouldn't budge," he explained in a hurry. Scared that he might get tossed out of the window at any given second.

Rose's expression relaxed a little bit, "Oh. Sorry. I don't usually do that," she apologized.

"Don't usually do what? Wake up in an unknown place or fall asleep after a da-dinner," he covered, mentally slapping himself. 

"Huh?" she asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, "Oh. Neither one, actually," she yawned again. She looked down to see that she was still wearing the same outfit from last night except for her shoes, which she spotted carefully placed by the dresser across the room. 

She also noticed the crumpled up sheet and blanket that sat atop a large pillow on the couch. He had given her the bed, and he had slept on the couch, she gathered. 'What a sweetheart,' she thought to herself. She heard a grumble come from the man still standing in the doorway of the bathroom. His hair was still dripping, and his tanned, muscular chest was bare. Rose then cocked an eyebrow at the noise he had just made.

"I haven't eaten breakfast yet," he shrugged.

Rose couldn't hold back the small grin that crept onto her face, "Why don't you take me to my hotel? I'll get ready, we'll have breakfast, and then you can have your second swim lesson."

Rene nodded his head, "Okay," he said before taking his towel and drying his hair followed by slipping on a t shirt. Rose couldn't help staring. He looked so cute. She swallowed hard as she forced the "unwanted" thoughts out of her mind.

"I'm going to use your bathroom really quick," Rose said getting to her feet and going to said location. Once she was in the safe confines of the bathroom walls, Rose let out a sigh before washing her face. She had a picture of how Rene looked today. Wet, dripping hair, t shirt, tanned kaki pants, and tennis shoes. She let out another sigh and cleared her head of all thoughts save for getting through the day.

Thirty minutes later, Rene and Rose were at her hotel room. Rose took a quick shower and dressed. She wore a black and white Adidas jogging suit over her shiny, silver bikini. She didn't wear any make-up and her hair was pulled back into a half-ponytail. She'd be teaching Rene how to swim again so she might as well dress for the occasion.

Taking one last look in the mirror and declaring herself ready, Rose stepped out of the bathroom. Rene looked up from where he was sitting and smiled when he saw that she was done. He was getting really, really hungry and had been tempted to sneak away and get some breakfast. However, he wasn't that mean and had waited like a good boy.

They left her hotel at noon. By twelve-thirty they were seated in the back of a local waffle house, Rene of course, adorned a pair of sunglasses and a black WWE logo cap. He ordered a large omelet with a side of bacon, while Rose ordered a waffle and grits.

Rene began the small talk, "You didn't talk much last night."

Rose shrugged, "I guess I just didn't have anything to say."

"Really? I think there's plenty to say," Rene smiled. "I mean, we're trying to be friends, right? So we should get to know each other."

"Yah…so what did you have in mind?" 

"We could always play twenty questions," he suggested with a goofy grin.

"Okay. You go first. Ask away," Rose obliged.

"Alright," and with that, the games began.

~~~

An hour later, Rene had learned that Rose's favorite colors were black, blue, and pink. Her favorite band was Disturbed, but she liked a little bit of every type of music. Among the more important things, he learned that she was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, but moved several times to several different states. He couldn't even remember all of them. 

He had also learned that she was an orphaned child, and that had made him feel bad for asking about her parents. The pain she felt was evident on her face as she told him. Even though she did try to make it sound like it was no big deal, he could tell it was. All he could do was smile and apologize for asking her about it. Rene turned his attention to the waitress as she returned with his credit card and he signed the receipt. 

Rose was also thinking about the new facts_ she _had learned. Among them was his favorite food: some kind of damned protein bar. She had also learned that he had been training since he was thirteen and dieting since before that. When she asked him what it was he wanted most, he had told her it was to make his father proud. 

He then told her about winning the tag team belts and how excited his dad had been. She recalled the story he had told her, "My mother said they were eating dinner and had the television on so they could see my match. When he saw the pin, and realized that Sylvan and I had won, he spit his drink out and all over her shirt and nearly chocked on his green beans," he had laughed as he recalled it.

Rose smiled at all of the new information, then started to get up, "You ready for your next lesson?"

Rene stood and grabbed his jacket, "Sure. Where are we practicing? Your hotel or mine?"

"Mine," she said as they exited the Waffle house. Rose reached in her purse and fished out a twenty, then handed it to Rene.

Rene eyed her for a moment, "What's that for?"

"For breakfast," she returned with a 'duh' expression.

"Umm…no," he shook his head, "That's okay."

Rose couldn't do that. Although her and Rene were getting along now, she couldn't allow him or anyone else to pay for her. If she did, it felt like she would be letting a piece of her independence slip away, "No, it's not okay. Take the damn money," she retorted as she stepped forward and took his hand, placing the twenty in his palm. Her heart jumped when his other hand wrapped around her wrist, preventing her from pulling back.

"I said no, Rose," he shook his head.

"I didn't ask you to pay for me. It's not like we're a cou-"

"Consider it payment for the swimming lessons," he interrupted, not liking where the conversation was headed. 

"You're teaching me to drive in return, remember? That's payment enough," she insisted.

"Well, then consider it a tip," he smiled slyly, his hand still around her wrist.

Rose rolled her eyes, "Fine, but next time we go somewhere, I'm paying."

"Next time?" Rene questioned as he pulled her slightly closer, "You want there to be a next time?" His voice was nearly a whisper, but Rose heard it perfectly, along with the secret message it held.

She swallowed hard and took a breath. Avoiding his gaze, she slipped her wrist out of his loose grasp and started walking toward the car, "We should get going."

Rene let out the breath he was holding and followed her to the rental. 'What's it going to take?' he mentally sighed.

~~~

It was nine o'clock that night, and Rose was finishing up her English essay. She attached the file to the email, and sent it to her professor. "Online classes aren't so bad after all," she admitted to herself. It had been a long month, but she was still managing to balance her classes with work and then all of that between teaching Rene to swim and learning to drive.

She sighed at the thought of Rene. He was filling her head more and more often lately. She thought back to his lesson today. It had been a little awkward after the exchange in the parking lot, but all in all, it was a success. He had perfected the back stroke and was now moving on to the breast-stroke. 'He'll have that down in a matter of minutes,' she thought to herself. Then she could start teaching him the fun stuff like underwater swimming and how to stay up in deep water. 

She also recalled how hard it had been to stand so close to him while wearing so little. While she was demonstrating the breaststroke to Rene, her thigh had accidentally brushed up against his groin. She remembered feeling her blood surge. Her body heat alone probably caused the temperature in the pool to raise several degrees.

Rose let out a little groan as she stood up. Her muscles ached, and she needed to wash the chlorine out of her hair. She had hit the books as soon as Rene had brought her back to her hotel. She still couldn't believe that she had spent the night in his room last night. Somehow, she had envisioned her first night sharing a room with a man slightly different. For one, she would have known about it, and secondly, she would have been able to wake up next to the man she loved, knowing that he loved her in return.

'Who are you kidding? That will never happen. No body ever wanted you before. What makes you think it should be any different now? You've never been wanted, and you'll sure as Hell never be loved. Give up,' the little voice inside her head antagonized. 

Rose swallowed the growing lump in her throat and grabbed a towel. For years she had gone through life, refusing to make friends, to fall in love, and tonight she would refuse herself the comfort of tears. She would refuse to expose that weakness, even to herself. Rose always believed what her inner-voice, her fear and pain, told her and had for years. Why _should_ now be any different? 'Give up. Give up the foolish dreams of love and a family.'

"It's better that way, anyway. I don't need any of it! I have a great job, I'm making money, and I'm going to college," Rose paused, "I don't need anything else-I don't _want_ anything else," she declared, regaining her sense of independence, and with it, her loneliness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is Annie pregnant? Is Randy really as calm as he seems to be? What about Rose? Will she continue to push potential friendship and love away? What will happen next??? DUN DUN DUN! You'll just have to review this chapter and read the next to find out, LOL. (I really love doing that!) 

Okay, I know, that last part was a bit depressing, but hey, I can't just make it EASY, now can I??? LOL. Please REVIEW!!

Pammi


	11. Many Musings

Okay ya'll, I don't how long it's going to be before my next update. I'm in the process of moving and that along with college and work is enough to make anybody want to hurl. Anyway, I'll try to get out as much as I can! 

Chapter Ten: Many Musings

Randy paced the length of the locker room. He was deep in thought and didn't take any notice to the rest of the guys. His mind was a jumble. He kept wondering about whether or not Annie was pregnant. She had gone to the doctor today, and should know the results by the time she got here tonight. 

He thought back to the conversation they had Thursday night. She had been so nervous.

~flashback~ 

"Randy, I set up an appointment for Monday in Hershey."

"Great. Are you sure they'll be able to tell by then?" 

"Well, he said he would. It's not like an in home pregnancy test. The doctor actually looks inside, he ought to be able to find out that way," she laughed softy.

Randy had smiled reassuringly at her. She looked so worried. It wasn't just about the possibility of her being pregnant…it was something else. "What's wrong, Annie? And don't tell me you're worried about being pregnant. It's not that, is it?"

Annie sighed, "No……I'm worried about us."

"What do you mean?" he was confused. They were doing fine…weren't they?

"I mean, it has _something_ to do with a baby, but not everything. I'm worried that if I am pregnant, things will change between us. Let's face it, we haven't made love since Monday, and usually…"

"I know, I'm sorry. But that's not the reason, Annie," he replied honestly. "I don't know much about, you know, pregnancy, but if you are then I don't want to risk hurting the baby."

She had looked shocked. Randy suddenly became pissed off at all of her ex-boyfriends again. Her past experiences always made her act so insecure about certain things, this obviously being one of them. She finally replied, "Oh. Well, that's still not all of it."

"Okay. Then tell me the rest," he pushed.

"What if……you…I mean, what if you change your mind?"

"Change my mind? About what?"

"About…me…us. If I'm pregnant, once the baby is here, a lot of things are going to change. Will you still want to marry me?" she had bit her lip and looked away. It hurt him to see her so worried, especially when it was basically a question of his love for her. 'How could she think such a thing?'

"Of course I will, Annie," he had crossed the room and embraced her. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she had sniffled into his shirt. She was petrified. Not only of being a mother, but of losing everything. Randy didn't know how to fix that. But he had to figure it out. He was uncertain too, but he had never questioned himself about whether or not anything would change on his part, or hers. Until now, that is.

~end flashback~

Randy took another breath. Thinking maybe all of this was for nothing. Hell, she may not even be pregnant, they didn't know anything for sure yet. He shook his head, 'How could she **_not_** be?' He had emptied himself completely inside her. He had been giving the possibility massive amounts of thought. He had tried hard to make sure that Annie didn't know of any of his doubts, but it was getting harder to hide it from her. Just last night she had asked if there was something wrong, and he had just said it was the rumble that had him all out of whack.

The truth of the matter was, that Randy was terrified. He thought back to everything that had happened in his life since October and meeting Annie, and he couldn't believe the drastic change. He had gone from partying every night to partying once a week or less. It wasn't because he felt like he couldn't, but in all honesty, because he didn't want to. 

He was still unable to grasp at how quickly everything had changed between himself and Annie. They had gone from hating each other and fighting to getting along and being friends. Then, from there they had gone to being lovers and engaged. It had only been four months, and his feelings were strong, he was certain he wanted to spend his life with her. 

However, he wasn't sure that they were ready to be parents. Their careers had both just started. Randy knew Annie would much rather give up her job than to see him give up his, but it bothered him that she would have to make that kind of sacrifice for him, for their child. He wanted her to be happy, and he knew how much she loved her job. 

That wasn't the only thing that worried him, however. It had been only last Monday that Annie had looked like she was going to pass out or crumble under all of the stress. She had to be ordered to take a nap, for crying out loud. Now, seven days later, and she wasn't looking much better. Her skin was a little paler than usual, and no one could really tell, but he could.

Between the whole Jon thing, her transfer to the OVW, her return to the WWE, and now all these new responsibilities, Randy knew it would only be a matter of time before she had some kind of breakdown. Her stressing over her possible pregnancy probably wasn't helping anything either.

Randy let out another sigh. There were so many things to think about when something like this was at hand. He didn't know that a person could feel so many uncertainties. He was worried and in doubt, and he felt bad for thinking so negatively. 

He felt bad because he knew Annie would be having it a thousand times as hard as himself if she was with child. While he would only be going through emotional changes, Annie would have to face emotional AND physical changes. Then, when the baby did come, he'd be on the road, and Annie would be at home. It wouldn't be fair for her. She'd probably feel insecure and lonely, and he didn't want to do that to her.

He couldn't help himself from getting a mental picture of a pregnant Annie. Her stomach would be round and probably only slightly sticking out, since she's so small. She'd be wearing a light pink shirt and pair of overalls, rolled up just beneath her knees, exposing her shins and bare feet. 

Her deep blue eyes would look more oceanic and crystalline than ever. She'd wince every time the baby kicked, then yank his hand over to feel it move. For some reason, when he thought about it, it calmed him. It made him feel like it wouldn't matter that much if she were going to have a baby.

Then it hit him, he had a sudden epiphany. Everything became so clear. All of his questions were answered, and all of his doubts were erased. He had to find Annie. He had to tell her how he felt, no more trying to hide it, because now, for the first time in days, he was thinking clearly again. 

~~~

Rose took a deep breath before she continued down the hall. She was feeling more confident than she had in days. She hadn't been at the Royal Rumble, but she had ordered it from her hotel room. The truth is, she had been afraid of seeing Rene, still so unsure of how she felt about him. She had called Stephanie and told her that she wasn't feeling well. It was true…to some extent.

The very thought of going to the arena **_did_** make her nocuous. Stephanie had told her not to worry about it. That while _she'd_ miss her, the rest of the creative team wouldn't really need her, considering both the SMACKDOWN! and Raw writers were going to be there. Stephanie just told her to get better before Monday. They'd definitely need her then.

Rose had made it tonight, though. She had reminded herself of the declarations she had made earlier that week, and decided that she was no longer stressed about anything. She would go the creative meeting, get her job done, and go home. If she bumped into Rene, she would treat him for what he was, a friend.

She had spent the better part of the week convincing herself that friendship was indeed the only thing she felt toward him. Now she needed no more convincing. She was strong, she was confident, and more importantly, she was independent.

Rose started to make a right turn, but the sound of her stomach rumbling made her go left and head toward the cafeteria. When she walked through the doors, two things happened. One, she became face to face with the sole object of her thoughts here as of late, and two, all of the strength, confidence, and independence that she had worked so hard building up, deserted her. 

Rose's legs began to feel like jelly as she looked up into the surprised, but friendly, blue eyes of Rene 'Dupree.' His huge smile was enough to make her heart switch from steady beats to soft pitter patters. Her stomach tied in knots at their closeness. They hadn't even been this close the last time. She could feel his steady breaths on her face, warm against her skin.

She noticed that his mouth was moving, and she forced herself to come back to reality. Slowly, all of the feelings that had momentarily abandoned her, found their way back to the surface. Rose regained control just in time to catch on to what he was saying.

"…alright?" 

"I'm fine. Sorry about that," she smiled apologetically.

"It's alright. I'm actually glad we bumped into each other. I was wondering when you wanted another driving lesson?"

"Oh," Rose thought for a moment. She was going to have to build up a hell of a lot more confidence if she was to make it through an entire lesson with him sitting next to her, 

"I'm free Wednesday," she finally chirped up.

"Great, I'll see you then," Rene started to walk away, but the stopped and turned back around. He captured the wrist of Rose, who had also started to retreat, "Hey, Rose?"

Rose froze at the effect his touch was having on her. 'It's just a wrist for crying out loud! Pull yourself together,' she yelled at herself inside her mind. She turned slowly, "Yes?"

"Do you need a lift to your hotel?" 

"Um…I'm not sure that's such a-"

"C'mon, where are you staying?" he pressed.

"I'm staying at the Hotel Hershey," she said a bit hesitantly. 

"Really? I'm staying there too. I haven't seen you around," he observed.

"I just checked in a few hours ago," she shrugged.

"Oh…that would explain it, I guess," he laughed. "Well, now you have to let me take you home."

Rose couldn't help smiling, "Okay. I'll meet you after the show."

"Alright, later," he said as he exited the cafeteria.

"Bye," she managed a few seconds too late. 'Oh well,' she thought to herself. Rose continued to make her way to other side of the cafeteria. Raw would be starting soon, but even sooner than that, the creative meeting would be commencing. She had to hurry up.

~~~

Annie made her way to the arena. She had just got done at the doctor's office. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. She turned into the parking lot and turned off the engine, slowly making her way out the car and into the building.

~~~

Randy walked down the ramp with Dave and Ric. He hadn't managed to get to Annie before now. He turned his mind away from the subject. He needed to focus. As soon as he turned his attention away from Annie, pained flared up his entire body. He was still aching from last night. He and Mick had really gone at it last night, and he was definitely feeling it.

Before he knew it, the match was underway, and Ric was in the ring going after Jericho. Things went by alright when he got into the ring until he got put in the corner. It usually didn't hurt so damn much, but after last night…'Fuck.' He felt out of it, like he was just drifting from one side of the ring to the other. He felt every blow, but that was about all he felt. He heard Rob's voice, "You alright?" Randy managed to get in a "Yeah, keep going. I'll be alright."

~~~

Annie watched from the monitor in the back. 'He looks like Hell,' she could tell he wasn't a hundred percent, and his night wasn't even starting. There was still a promo and then the big finish at the end of the night. Annie sighed heavily. 

She had a feeling it wasn't just the beatings that was getting to Randy. When the match was finally over, Annie made her way to the entrance ramp, she wanted to see him as soon as he got backstage. 

Randy came through the curtain first, he had to hurry up and get to Eric's office to cut a promo. As soon as he came through, however, he was greeted by the one person he had been trying to see all night. He looked in Annie's eyes and knew she had an answer. He sensed she was nervous, but before he could speak, he heard Eric's voice.

"Randy! C'mon, we're about to come back from break!" 

Randy nodded in reply and gave an apologetic look to Annie, who gave an understanding smile. He rushed to Eric's office and got ready. When the cameraman said go, he pushed everything out of his mind, save for what he needed to do. He would have to deal with everything else in a few minutes.

~~~

Rose hurried down the hallway, looking for Stephanie. She was about to turn the corner when she heard voices. It was Randy and Annie. Rose held her breath, and tried not to eavesdrop, but she couldn't move. Besides, she had to go that way to get to Steph's office. What else was she going to do? She decided to wait it out and not interrupt, and while she tried not to listen, the rest of the building was quiet.

"Annie, I need to tell you something," Randy grabbed her hands.

"I know, but I need you to know tha-"

"Please, just listen."

"Okay," Annie nodded, squeezing his hands.

"Look, I know we've been going crazy this week, wondering whether or not you may be pregnant. I know you were really scared, and if you found out what I think you found out, then you still are scared."

Randy tried to think of a way to put what he was going to say next. All the while, Rose was standing against the wall with her eyes wide open in shock. Now she **_had_** to listen.

Randy continued, finally thinking of what he wanted to say, "The truth is, Annie, that I've been scared too. I didn't think that we'd be ready to have a baby. Both of our careers have just gotten started, and I know how much you love your job. But the thing is, I realized something tonight when I was thinking-"

"Wait a minute, I thought you told me you wouldn't mind if I were pregnant? Why didn't you tell me how you felt?" Annie asked, feeling bad that he had lied, probably to spare her any heartache. She could have been strong for him if she would have known he was feeling stressed.

"I didn't want to worry you or make you feel insecure about us. I know you've been through some bad relationships, I just wanted to make you feel reassured about ours."

"Randy, I-"

"Let me finish," he continued when she nodded, "I realized something tonight. Things moved really fast with us. We met four months ago, and now we're engaged, and you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you, Annie, and if you're pregnant, it's not going to change anything about that. The only thing that will change, is that I'll love you even more, and I'll have a child to love too. I know you're scared, but don't be. I'm here for you and I'll be there for our child too." 

Annie felt her bottom lip trembling, and she threw her arms around Randy's neck and squeezed him as hard as she could. She sobbed into his shoulder, and let the tears roll. She had been dying to let them out all week, and now, they were using this opportune moment to escape. She clung to him for a few minutes and tried to regain control of herself. She had to tell him, "Randy, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" he questioned as he wiped away one of her tears.

"I'm not pregnant," she squeaked.

Randy's eyes widened, "What?" he sounded a little disappointed, actually.

"We're not going to have a baby," she smiled wider. "Are you disappointed?"

"No…yes…I don't know. I guess it's best this way, but…"

"Yah, I know," she looked down.

Randy grabbed her around the waist and lifted her in the air, "I love you, babe."

"I love you too, sweetie," she beamed down at him.

"Marry me?"

"One of these days," she laughed.

Randy eased her down into another embrace before they started walking down the hall in a silent happiness.

Rose swallowed the lump in her throat. She had almost cried. How could any two people love each other that much? It seemed that every time she saw Randy and Annie together, she was baffled by it. Here she was, protecting herself from love, assuring herself that she didn't need or want something like that. Yet, the more she saw how happy other couples were like, Paul and Stephanie or Randy and Annie, the more she questioned herself, 'What's there to protect myself from?'

How could she not _want_ that? Was she even sure she didn't _need_ it? They all made love look like something essential and good. However, in Rose's observations of foster parents and thoughts of her own parents, she never could grasp how love could be anything other than negative. Something that destroys and causes pain. Solitude had always been Rose's way. No friends, no family, and no love. 

She just didn't know anymore. Everything she had once believed was becoming more and more questionable by the day. Especially when she spent time with Rene. She had tried to hate him in the beginning, but she just couldn't do it. And now, now it was even worse. Now they were seeing each other for driving lessons, swimming lessons, he was taking her home from the events, eating together occasionally, and to top it all off, she had to run away from him just to keep herself from kissing him.

Rose shook her head. What the Hell was she going to do? She had excepted his invitation to drive her to the hotel, and Wednesday she'd be getting another driving lesson. 'Could things possibly get any more confusing?'

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Well, there it is. I'll try to have another chapter out tomorrow or sometime this week. I'll try, I promise! But like I said before, we're moving, and it's going to take a couple days for things to get settled and back to normal! REVIEW, as always!

Pammi


	12. This one isn't titled, so I'll make some...

Alright ya'll, I'm back with another chapter. I still don't have the internet, but I will be trying to upload from the college's library computers! Hopefully it will work, and I won't get into trouble, lol. Anyway, here it is. 

Chapter Eleven: 

Rose turned left at the stop sign. She cursed when she realized that she had forgotten to use her turn signal.

"Remember your-"

"Turn signal," she cut off Rene's reprimand. "I know, I know. I'm just not focused today for some reason.

"It's okay, but when you're driving you have to learn to concentrate," Rene smiled encouragingly.

Rose let out a sigh and pulled into the parking lot of a nearby rest area. She had no clue where they were, but she didn't care. They had only been practicing for an hour, but she couldn't focus, and it had little to do with fear. Ever since she had first seen him this evening, she couldn't think of anything else.

He dressed in faded jeans and a La Resistance t-shirt. His hair wasn't spiked, and he looked just as hot without spikes as he does with them. She swallowed hard. This made the billionth time she had thought of him as 'hot'. Rose stopped the car and got out, walking away quickly. 

Rene followed, confused, "Rose! Hey! What's going on?" He ran to catch up with her, clasping her elbow gently, stopping her. He then turned her to face him. 

Rose let out a huff and rolled her eyes, "I just need a break, that's all."

Rene furrowed his brow, "It's only been an hour."  


"Yah, well…I need a break!" she nearly yelled. Rose let out a sigh, "I'm sorry. I just…I don't think I can do this anymore."

"Do what? It's just driving. It isn't that hard is it? I mean, you could probably take your test tomorrow and-"

"I'm not talking about the damn driving!" Rose yanked her arm away from him.

"What are you talking about then? What can't you do anymore?" Rene asked, completely and totally baffled.

"I'm talking about this. I can't…I don't think…" Rose let out a sigh, preparing herself for what she had to tell him. "I don't think we should hang out anymore, Rene. Besides, you're doing really good with the swimming, and I'm doing really good with the driving. I'd say our deal is done."

Rene took a step closer, "Why can't we hang out? I know our deal is practically up, but I thought we were friends."

Rose looked away, "We are, it's just-" she let out a heavy breath.

"It's just what?" Rene asked, taking a step closer.

Rose spoke as she turned her head, "I just…" she trailed off when she locked eyes with him. She opened her mouth to speak but no words would come. All she could do was stare until something inside her snapped and she leaned forward, pressing her lips to his.

Rene froze for a half a second before wrapping his arms around her and returning the kiss. He let loose everything he had been feeling as he caressed her lips softly, but hungrily. He pulled her closer to him, longing for her warmth. He reached his hand around her head and undid her clip. He let it fall to ground as he ran his hands through her long, blonde hair. 

Rose knew she shouldn't be doing this, but she couldn't help it. She never wanted it to end. She never wanted him to take his lips from her or his hand from her hair. She wanted to stay in his embrace and keep her arms firmly locked around his neck forever, but she couldn't. It had to end.

Rose pulled away abruptly, taking several steps backward before looking away. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let that happen."

Rene looked at her for a minute, taking it in. She looked ashamed, remorseful, lost. But more than any of those, she looked sad. He found his voice, "Why? Why _shouldn't_ it happen?" 

Rose looked up, "It's complicated."

"Make it uncomplicated," he said, his gaze hardening. He wanted to be able to understand, but until she told him what was going on, it would be impossible.

Rose looked at him, desperation in her eyes. She wanted to be anywhere but there. She met his gaze, but her strength soon dispersed and she sighed, unable to find any words, and looked down at the ground again.

Rene took a step toward her and reached out to touch her face. She hesitantly flinched and stepped back to create more distance. He dropped his outstretched arm, "Rose……"

She looked up at his plea, "Rene, you're a great guy, and I see that but…" she broke off and shook her head.

Rene furrowed his eyebrows again, "Rose," he started as he grasped her arm quickly and pulled her to him. "Rose, don't do this. Do you know how long I've waited for you to come around? Can you honestly tell me you don't want this," he said as he grabbed her free hand held it in his, bringing it to his lips to brush a kiss over. 

He then let their arms drop, still holding her hand and looked back into her eyes, "Can you tell me you don't want _this_?" he asked as he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her quivering lips. He held her gaze once more, "Or this?" He said, bringing her into a warm embrace holding her firmly to him.

Rose felt her heart beating so quickly in her chest that she felt it might burst at any second. She felt hot tears leaving her eyes…"What's happening to me?" she whispered inaudibly into his chest. Not knowing she spoke it out loud. Her whole way of thinking, living, and being was about to change, and it all happened so quickly. She couldn't let it happen. She just couldn't but… 

She did want this, and as much as she fought to deny it, she couldn't. Not to herself…not to him. He knew. He couldn't see past her-into her, and she didn't know how he could read her so well. She was scared again, and she suddenly remembered the reason. He had to know she couldn't handle this. It was impossible. 

"Rene," she finally chocked. She wrapped her arms around his waist, burying herself further into his strong chest. "I _do_ want this, but I can't do it. There are reasons that you couldn't possibly begin to understand. I would only hurt you." 

"You could never hurt me, Rose. Please, can't we try?" He squeezed her supportively, knowing she was crying.

Rose let out a broken sob into his chest before her knees went weak. She would have fallen to the ground had it not been for Rene holding her up. 

"Talk to me, Rose. Explain it. We've got all night," he rubbed her back as he spoke.

Rose swallowed hard, "Can we sit down?"

Rene nodded into her shoulder before releasing her and directing her to a bench that sat underneath a huge tree. When they sat down, Rose tried to scoot away but Rene pulled her into his shoulder and wrapped his arm around her waist. They sat like that for many minutes in complete silence before Rose began to speak.

"I'm a foster child. Growing up I moved around a lot from one foster home to the next. Although I know there have to be some good foster parents out there, I was not lucky enough to stumble upon any. I just didn't fit in, and I allowed myself to be ignored. As moving became more frequent, I became less social. I guess I figured, 'What's the point? I'm just going to be gone in a few weeks or months.' So I never had any boyfriends or _any_ friends for that matter. And that was fine with me."

Rose took a breath then started again after Rene nodded for her to continue, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I've never let anyone in before. I don't know if I even can. What I do is that, I don't want either of us to get hurt, Rene, but it **_will_** happen. As much as I want this…" she shook her head, "That's as much as I don't want it."

Rene sighed, "I won't push you if you're not ready, Rose, but you have to understand. If it's one thing I've learned from all the years of training, it's that life is full of risks. Some you should avoid at all costs, other risks, though. Other risks are worth taking." he said the last part looking straight into her emerald orbs. He smiled sweetly, yet somewhat sadly, "C'mon. Let's get back to the hotel. You look like you could use a rest."

"Okay, but you're driving," Rose smiled weakly and they stood in unison. Rene kept his arm around her as they walked back the car. He wanted to make that closeness last for as long as possible before it was gone again.

Aside from having the radio on, they rode together in silence. Neither of them felt there was anything else to say, at least, not on that night. When they finally made it to their hotel, Rose got out of the car and began walking toward her room. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Rene.

He smiled before taking her hands in his, "Rose, before you make your decision, I just want to think about one thing."

She nodded, "What's that?"

Without hesitation Rene seized her lips passionately. His kiss was deep and feeling, for in it he poured every emotion. He expressed his trust, his support, his strength, and his care with every caress. When he broke the kiss he let his hands linger on hers for a brief minute before turning around and walking back to his room.

Rose stood there dumbfounded. 'What am I going to do?' Her lips were pulsating from the kiss, and it hadn't even been that hard. She could still taste him in her mouth, she could still feel his hands holding hers. She knew these sensations would last for the rest of the day, but she wanted to really feel it again. She didn't know how long she had stood there before finally turning to go back to her room. Rene was right. She needed to get some rest.

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Okay, I hope to have another chapter out possibly by this weekend, but this is all I could do. I hope I make enough money this week to get my internet back. Uploading from college is such a bitch, lol.

Well, until next time, please review and tell me what you think!!!

Pammi


	13. Like a Bridge Over Troubled Water

Okay, first of all, I'm really, really sorry for not updating sooner. I went and got my internet subscription, but they weren't able to hook it up until this Wednesday. Not only that, but I _was_ uploading from college, but I think someone caught on, and I wasn't able to do it. I think they fire walled me.bastards. Oh well, like I said I'm really sorry I couldn't update sooner, but thank you soooo much for your reviews and being patient! 

Chapter Twelve: Like a Bridge Over Troubled Water

~Monday, 2 Feb. 2004~

Annie hurried down the hall and into the ladies' room. She had been feeling like crap all day. Her stomach had been flip flopping and turning, making her feel as though she had been riding the boat ride at Six Flags all day. She hadn't been of course. In fact, she hadn't been to said theme park in years. The reason would be the exact way she is feeling now, 'Stupid boat ride and all of its back and forth, up and down and-Oh SHIT!'

Annie kicked herself for thinking about it when she was already nauseous. She hurled herself into a stall and plopped down on the floor, readying herself for the release. 'What did I catch?' she wondered. 'It's probably all of this traveling I've been doing lately or-no it couldn't be that. The doctor said everything was fine.'

'Hmm.he did know that I came there to see if I was pregnant, didn't he? He wouldn't assume that if I was, I would know would he?' Annie's head shot up. She had only scheduled the appointment as a check up. She didn't even know the doctor she had seen. She took in a breath then shook her head. 'Don't jump to conclusions. Surely he would have said something.right? Oh my God, what if Randy was right? What if one week was just too soon to tell? Oh God,' she swallowed hard at her thoughts. 

'No. No, it couldn't be. I need to calm down, it's probably just the flu. Maybe I should schedule another appointment just to be sure,' Annie encircled her arms tightly around her chest and brought her knees up. She leaned her back against the wall of the stall. 'Okay, I'll get another appointment if this doesn't subside in a couple of days. It's strange. I want to believe it's the flu, but I don't have any other flu-like symptoms,' Annie let out another sigh, big mistake she knew as she had to hurry up and get to a hovering position over the toilet. It was going to be a long night.

~~~

Rose stumbled cautiously around the halls of the backstage area. She had come to her decision and tonight she would have to tell Rene. However, she would try her damnedest to delay that moment for as long as possible. Hell, she might even just wait the rest of her natural born life to tell him.

She knew he would be hurt that she still didn't want to get involved, but he had to understand that it could go no further than friendship. She just was not ready. 'He'll have to understand. We can't be together, not like that,' she repeated to herself. She had refused to think about the possibility that maybe Rene wasn't the only one she would be hurting by her decision, but herself as well. 

She took a deep breath as she finally made it to her office. She quickly entered and closed the door behind her, "Sanctuary," she breathed out loud in relief as she pushed off the wall and headed toward her desk. 

Rose let out a yawn a stretched toward the ceiling. She was tired and damn near ready to leave. 'I have to tell him,' she reminded herself. She huffed down into her chair whiningly. She knew what she had to do, but it was just so hard. Rose's head perked up at that thought, 'Why is it so hard. It isn't what I want!' 

She let out a sigh. If it wasn't what she wanted, then why did she constantly fantasize about it. She had been drooling over him during his match, and she nearly came unglued with jealousy when she saw his reaction to Stacey, and she had been the one to suggest it in the first place! 

Rose growled in frustration as she turned her chair around to face the wall, then stood up quickly, knocking it over, "ENOUGH! I'm going to tell him, and I'm going to tell him now!" 

"Who's _him_ and what are you going to tell him?" A voice from the doorway questioned.

Rose spun around to see Amy Dumas standing in her office with a smile on her face. She was shocked. She had only spoken to Amy once, and that was on her first day in the WWE. "Uh.Amy? What are you doing here?" she asked curiously, ignoring the question.

"I was just passing by and I heard a noise in here. I thought someone might be hurt or something," she smiled.

"Oh. No. I was just being a retard," Rose rolled her eyes at herself before picking her chair off the floor. 

"O-kay. So, are you gonna tell me who this 'he' is and what you plan to tell him? I mean, unless it's too personal."

Rose pursed her lips, "It is kind of personal, but I need to tell someone I think, and I haven't seen Annie all night," she let out a huff as she made her way across the room. She didn't know how to explain it, but she felt like she could trust Amy. There was just something about her that screamed "honest! Friendly! Trustworthy!" Rose followed her instincts and began to explain the situation to someone who seemed like they were willing to listen.

~~~

Randy entered Annie's office with a huge smile on his face. His eyes scanned the room, but his smile disappeared when he realized she wasn't there. He let out a disappointed 'humph.' 

"What's the matter, cutie?" he heard a slightly familiar voice from behind him. 

Randy turned around to come face to face with one of the divas that he found slightly more grotesque that the others, "Oh. Hi, Jackie."

"What's the matter? Not happy to see me?" Jackie couldn't help but tease him. Who could? He was Randy Orton. Arguably the most attractive male superstar in the back. Lord, how she wanted him.

"Actually, I would be a whole lot happier if I could find Annie. You know, my fiancé?" he said, making his point.

"I see," Jackie acknowledged, but came toward him anyway. 

Randy turned away from her and headed over toward the desk in the corner, "Listen, Jackie. I don't know what you came to see Annie for, but she isn't here right now, so why don't you try back later?" 

Jackie followed him, halting only when he was still and in front of the desk. He was facing away from her, and she lost control as she stood, staring at that perfect ass. She reached out, and before she knew what she was doing, she was coping a feel.

"What the HELL are you doing?!?!" Randy protested as he whirled around and grabbed both of her wrists. "Don't you ever touch me-"

He was cut off as Jackie crashed her lips to his, catching him off guard. She took advantage of it and pushed him against the desk, causing him to fall backward onto it and in return, landing her on top of him in a most questionable position. 

He pulled his head away in disgust, "Get the Hell off of me you twisted freak!"

"Aw, c'mon, Randy, baby. You mean to tell me you don't want any of this?" she questioned, shaking her breasts as she lowered them to his face. 

Just then the door swung open. Randy turned his face and froze when he saw a pale-faced Annie standing there, looking on. He nearly forgot where he was until he heard a mirthful laugh come from Jackie. She sat on top of him, smirking evilly at the woman he loved.

Annie stood there dumbfounded for a moment. She felt instant tears coming to her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, to yell. She wanted to do something. She wanted to kill Jackie Gayda, demand an explanation, but she couldn't. 

All she could do was stand there and stare at Randy, being straddled by that hussy! She snapped back to reality and shook her head. She suddenly had the urge to throw up again. Annie turned around and bolted out of the room, unable to believe what she had just seen. She felt her heart pounding in her chest as she ran. 

Randy snapped back to reality, and no longer cared that it was a woman on top of him. He pushed her to the floor violently, just like he would any man. "You bitch! Do you even know what you've done?"

Jackie narrowed her eyes at him, "Of course I know what I've done. I've just single handedly managed to make the sexiest man I know available again," she smiled widely, "Now come here and let me reap the benefits."

Randy had to stop himself from beating the living Hell out of this bitch. She may have just caused him to lose everything he had ever wanted. Annie would never believe him. Why should she? He used to be a womanizer before he met her, and he was sure she knew that. "Get this through your head, Jackie. The only woman I want, and will ever want, is Annie. So rest assure, that even if things don't work out between us because of this, I will NEVER want ANY PART of YOU!"

Jackie's smile faded, but she didn't have time to respond, as Randy was already out the door and chasing after Annie. Jackie let out a huff of disappointment, "Oh well. His loss. Or should I say _losses_?" she said lightly, not caring about anything that she had just done.

~~~

Annie ran out of the building and into the parking lot. She saw Luke, the camera guy, getting into his rental, "Luke!!"

Luke turned his head, "Annie? Is that you? What's up?" he noticed her tear streaked face as she finally made it over to where he stood. "Have you been crying? What's the matter, Annie?"

She sniffled, "I can't explain right now, I have to go. Could you take me to my hotel?"

"Sure."

With that Annie climbed into the passenger side and pulled out her cell phone. She called for a cab as they made their way to her and Randy's hotel, then turned it off as soon as she was done. Once there, Annie thanked Luke before going inside and packing her things. By the time she was done, her cab was outside and waiting. She knew Randy wouldn't be able to stop her because of his busy night. 

She didn't know what was going on, but she was too confused for a confrontation. She needed time to think and make sense of what she had just seen. She couldn't fathom it. Why was this happening? What was going on? She knew she needed to let Randy try to explain, but the night had already been too much for her. 

~~~

"Randy!" Ric yelled across the parking lot at the young superstar, "Come back in! She's probably gone by now, we'll catch up to her in Portland. Hell, we'll tie her down when we find her and make her listen."

Randy bit the inside of his cheeks, fighting back the tears of loss that were threatening to fall. They had been through so much already. Why did all these bad things have to keep on happening to them? They loved each other so much, but he was beginning to believe that there was some other force working against them. "DAMN IT!" he yelled to release all the frustration that had built up inside of him. He took some deep breaths before collecting himself and heading back into the building. 

Ric sighed at the sight. Randy's shoulders were slumped, his head hung. He shook his head, "Randy, you need to focus. Slip into character, you hear me? You're working, remember? I know how you feel, but believe me, things will work out. Now, let's go."

Randy nodded and blocked out all of his emotions. He took a deep breath before heading down the hall. Only thirty minutes left, then he could go after her. He could set things right.if he could catch up to her, that is.

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Okay, sorry it's only five pages, but I figured that was a good place to quit. The next chapter will be mainly Rose and Rene. So be asking yourself questions like: Did Rose ever tell Rene?? And what about Randy and Annie??? What's going to happen??? Did the doctor make a mistake??? Will Annie believe Randy's explanation?? Will I be able to come up with one more question???? Does this count??? Lol.

Please Review Ya'll!!!

Pammi


	14. Breaking Down in Bakersfield

Alright, I'm really sorry it took so long for an update. I usually don't have a lot of hours at work, but they have been scheduling me like crazy, and let's not forget school! Ick! There's not a lot of Randy/Annie in this chapter, you'll see why when you read. Anyway, here it is!!

**__**

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS RATED 'R' FOR SEXUAL CONTENT. ONCE AGAIN, IF YOU ARE NOT MATURE ENOUGH TO HANDLE THE CONTENTS WITHIN THIS CHAPTER, PLEASE DO NOT CONTINUE. I DO NOT WISH TO BE REPORTED ON BEHALF OF THOSE WHO CAN NOT UNDERSTAND THE BEAUTY AND ART OF SEX. PLEASE READ RESPONSIBLY AND BE UNDERSTANDING TOWARD WHAT I AM TRYING TO CONVEY.

Chapter Thirteen: Breaking Down In Bakersfield 

~Monday 9 Feb. 2004~

Randy paced the backstage area, frantically. Annie had finally picked up the phone and talked to him earlier this morning. She had said to meet her here, now where was she? He leaned his back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling, silently praying it would fall and put him out of his misery. Then he heard it. Like a light through the fog. Her voice.

"Randy…" Annie approached him, taking a deep breath.

"Annie!" he ran toward her and wrapped her in his arms, praying it wouldn't be his last chance to hold her, "Please let me explain."

Annie had come there, hoping to be strong and ready, but she couldn't help wrapping her arms around him. "Explain it, Randy, because I can't understand how you can hold me like this, day in and day out, then wind up on your back in my office with a slut like Jackie Gayda on top of you."

Randy exhaled, "Just don't make me let you go," he made her promise. "It's been Hell without you. Don't run away again."

"Just tell me, Randy. What was that?" she felt her tears flowing.

"_She_ came onto _me_. I went to your office to find you and she was there looking for you, or that's what she said. I told her you weren't here and to leave, but she came up behind me, and the next thing I know I'm on your desk, her on top of me, and the love of my life running away from me."

"Randy, I-"

"Annie, please believe me. I would never hurt you in such a way, I swear it. I used to be a player, I will admit that, but not since you, and I never will be again. Please, Annie, tell me that you'll stay. I can't loose you. I love you too much."

Annie pushed out of his embrace gently and looked into his eyes. He wasn't hiding anything. Those beautiful, baby blue eyes could never hide anything from her. She threw her arms around his neck, "Oh Randy, I'm so sorry I ran. I just couldn't handle it. It was too much. I didn't want to believe what I saw. There were just so many things going through my head."

Randy squeezed her tightly to him. I love you, Annie. I want to get married right away. I don't want to wait."

She smiled into his neck, then her body tensed and she broke out into tears, "Randy, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" he asked fearing the worst.

Annie bit her lip, "I'm pregnant. I got a second opinion."

Randy's eyes widened, "What?" he asked quietly, a small smile plastering itself on his face.

~(A/N: Alright, I know you guys were looking for some full-blown feud or something, but I couldn't do it. It's Valentine's Day, and I'm depressed enough as it is. I have no man, I have no roses, no candy, so the least I could do to make myself happy, is to make my characters happy! I'm sorry if you don't like it, but my emotions are on the fringe! GAAAAAHH)

~Friday, 13 Feb. 2004~

Rose watched the digital clock at her bedside intensely as it went from three fifty-nine to four in the morning. She let out a breath and gave up trying. She couldn't sleep. Amy and herself had talked and talked until one of them looked at the clock and realized that the show had been over for thirty minutes. 

Amy told her to sleep on it, and not to force herself to come up with an answer right away. Rose figured she didn't have a choice since Rene was probably long gone. She had gone straight to her hotel room from the arena and tried to go to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, she could see him, and her thoughts were on the situation.

Rose couldn't clear her mind or relax. That had been nearly two weeks ago.

She had seen Rene, and talked to him, but managed to make their mingling short and avoid saying anything related at all to her making a decision. She had told him that she would be taking her driving test soon, and tried to keep their conversations light, without physical contact, and from a health distance of three feet away from him. She felt it best, because he seemed like a magnet. Every time she got too close she was pulled right to him. In his arms, her lips against his, their bodies molded together, and damn, she needed to stop thinking in this manner before she exploded. 

She let out another annoyed sigh from where she lay on the bed. Why was she torturing herself? She was torn between what she desperately wanted and needed, and what she felt she _had_ to do. Rose got up in a defeated huff and headed toward the bathroom. She needed to make a decision before she went crazy. 

"It's not a big deal, Rose," she tried to reason with herself, "Just choose one or the other!" Rose bit her lip, "Maybe I already am crazy! Look at me! I'm talking to myself, and actually expecting an answer! I need to get some sleep……which is exactly why I need to make a decision. So I can sleep again!" 

She stopped to look at herself in the mirror. The light bags from all the restless nights shone clearly under her eyes. Her eyes, which were usually a lively emerald were now dull and tired with a light tint of olive green overshadowing the usual color. Her hair was limp and dead, unlike her usual shiny, healthy strands. She had been under stress, not only from the personal problems, but also from the work load. 

It was strange. She covered herself in her work day after day, but now, she had finished all of her work for the entire week. She was running out of ways to hide from, forget, and ignore her problems. Rose stepped into the shower and began to clean all of the grunge away.

When she finished her shower, she stepped in front of the mirror once again. She was going to kill herself if she didn't stop this folly. She couldn't delay any longer. Rose's head snapped up, "I'm not going to delay any more! I am going to see Rene and tell him my decision, and I'm going to do it right now!" Though still unsure of what her decision was going to be, Rose yanked on some clothes and headed out the door. 

She forgot that it was four thirty in the morning, and she didn't care. Nothing mattered. She had to tell him, to do **_something-anything_** to get herself back to normal. It wasn't healthy for her to be so stressed over some small, insignificant emotion. She was independent, strong, and she'd be damned if she was going to change now.

Rose knew his room number. She had seen him go in yesterday with all of his suitcases on her way back to her room. She had hid herself in a nearby hallway, then jumped into an elevator. She smirked to herself, he probably didn't even know she was in the same area, let alone the same building. 

She kept her pace going as quickly as she could. She could see his room door coming into view. She had a reproaching thought for a fleeting second before she pounded on his door. She gathered up all the anger that had been building up inside of her. She was determined…she was ready…she had no idea what she was going to say.

~(A/N: This part is going to be slight song-fic like. The song is Uninvited by Alanis Morissette, and no, I don't own that either)~

Rene heard someone pounding on his door relentlessly. He moaned as he left his bed. Who would be crazy enough to knock on someone's door at four forty-five in the damn morning. 

"HOLD ON!" he yelled as he went toward his suitcase and pulled out a pair of sweats to cover up his naked form. He was pissed. He had been dreaming about Rose and being intimate with her. The results were clearly outlined in his pants. 'Lord, I hope it isn't some crazed fan,' he groaned, then thought again, 'It can't be. Hotel security wouldn't have let them in…'

He tripped over a chair that wasn't pushed in under the table, "Fuck!" he cursed as he caught himself before hitting the floor. He sleepily continued to make his way to the door, and unlock the chain. He forgot to look in the peephole. 

"Who the Hell-" Rene froze, dumbfounded as he stared into the angry eyes of Rosalyn Bryant. The very star of all of his dreams as of late. He felt the heat of his face retreat to a lower location. "Rose? What are you doing here?"

(Like anyone would be   
I am flattered by your fascination with me   
Like any hot blooded woman   
I have simply wanted an object to crave   
But you, you're not allowed   
You're uninvited   
An unfortunate slight)   


Rose's scowl deepened as she pushed her way past him and into his room. Rene shut the door, and was about to ask her what the deal was when she turned on him and began to rant. "I'll tell you what I'm doing here! I'm here because I can't sleep, and it's all your fucking fault! I can't think! I can't eat! And it's ALL YOUR FAULT!!!"

Rene swallowed, "Rose-"

(Must be strangely exciting   
To watch the stoic squirm   
Must be somewhat heartening   
To watch Shepard meet Shepard   
But you, you're not allowed   
You're uninvited   
An unfortunate slight) 

"Don't you 'Rose' me! I don't want to hear it! I was fine until YOU came along!" she continued to yell. "I was strong! Independent! SANE!!! But no! YOU HAD TO COME ALONG AND CHANGE ALL OF THAT!!" her anger was starting to double over. All Rene could do was stand there and take it in.

"I didn't need to feel ANYTHING! But you just **_had_** to kiss me that night, didn't you?? Then, you had to befriend me! AND AS IF THAT WEREN'T ENOUGH, YOU HAD TO KISS ME AGAIN!! YOU HAD TO HOLD ME AND ASK ME WHAT I WANT!!"

"Rose, I-"

(Like any uncharted territory   
I must seem greatly intriguing   
You speak of my love like   
You have experienced love like mine before   
But this is not allowed   
You're uninvited   
An unfortunate slight) 

"I'M NOT DONE, DAMN IT! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME??! DO YOU!!!" She waited patiently, a stern look on her face. Her features were calm and collected…on the outside.

Rene was silent. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her. She was beautiful, even if she did want to kill him. What was she trying to prove? He could see through her. She wasn't as strong or angry as she was trying so desperately to convey. She was scared to death and shaking inside of herself. He shook his head, "What have _I _done to you, _Rose_? All I wanted and all I still want, is you. I just make you happy."

Just as quickly as she had gained the courage to face him, that's exactly how quickly she crashed and burned. "Don't look at me like that," she tried to sound forceful again, but her voice was only but a shaking whisper.

(I don't think you unworthy   
I need a moment to deliberate)

Rene walked toward her, "Rose, you know what you want. Why can't you admit it?"

"I…I-" she looked away from his gaze.

"Tell me what you want, Rose. We both know…" He clasped her chin and made her look at him.

Rose trembled at his touch. He was doing it again. He was drawing her to him, making her need him, and Lord how she needed him. She needed to feel his arms around her, his hands in her hair, his lips on hers, and his tongue in her mouth. Then, and only then would she be able to be at peace. She needed to take him in like the narcotic he was. He killed the pain of loneliness and doubt within her. He was the only cure for her illness; her undying need to be near him.

The only thing Rene was to blame for was making her realize what a fool she had been. She was a fool to believe that she could walk life happily without someone holding her hand as she tracked through it. She wanted a partner, a lover, a friend. He was all of this, and then she knew. She knew for a fact exactly what she wanted. She met his gaze, her emerald eyes full of life and understanding, "Rene, I want this. You. I need…I need-" she broke off and seized his lips.

Rene was pushed back with her force, and they both fell onto the bed. He onto his back, and her atop him, kissing him passionately, whilst she straddled him. Rene let out moan as he felt his erection growing. Rose felt it too, and she reflexively began to gyrate her hips over his groin. 

Rene pushed himself up into a sitting position, wrapping his arms around her and moved onto his knees. Rose still on top of him, rocked back and forth easier in the new position. She attacked his neck and moved her hands to his chest, desperately needing to feel his skin. 

She pulled away suddenly, and took off her shirt. She wasn't wearing a bra, and her two round, taut breasts tempted him. She beckoned, "Touch me, Rene. Please. Don't make me beg for you."

"Rose, you can't possibly be thinking clearly. You're exhausted. You think I haven't noticed, but I have. You don't know what you're saying."

"I may be exhausted, but for the first time in my life, I know exactly what I want," she leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips before whispering in his ear, "Rene, I want you. Take me."

"If I start, Rose, I won't be able to stop. It's going to hurt," he smoothed her hair, "I don't think you came here for this, love."

"I didn't know what I was thinking on the way here…I just needed to see you-to feel you. I don't want to stop," she looked him straight in the eyes, "I want you to be the one. Make me **_feel_** again," she begged, tears welling in her eyes.

Rene touched her face gently, then brought her in for a deep, tender kiss. His tongue traced the inside of her warm mouth, stroking her own tongue. Rose moaned softly into his throat. He brought his hand down to her breast and traced the outside of her nipple. His other hand went to her waist. With one effortless motion, he brought her down onto to soft mattress.

His mouth left hers and traced kisses down her neck and to each breast. He sucked and licked each nipple. He then left a trail of kisses down her midsection as he undid the clasp on her pants. He pulled them down slowly, along with her underwear until they were completely off. 

Rose gave him a confused look when he did not pull off his own clothes. Her eyes widened when she felt his tongue on her most intimate place. She gasped as he licked her clit, gently stroking it with his tongue. "Rene…" she moaned when she felt a finger slip inside of her. "Oh God…" she whimpered.

Rene continued to stroke her with his tongue. He tasted her juices as they flowed from her center. He slowly eased another finger inside of her, while quickening the pace of his tongue. He felt her body tremble as she reached her peak, but pulled away before she could. His mouth left her core, and traveled back up her body. She was shaking fiercely with need and desire.

"Why did you stop?" She whimpered helplessly. She never received an answer as her mouth was once again covered with his. She could taste herself on his lips, in his mouth. Instead of being disgusted, however, she was set on fire. Her body burned for his. She didn't noticed him pull off his pants or slip on the condom. All she could feel was his touch, his caress, and the piercing pleasure-pain as he entered her.

She let out a small moan of protest as he took her virginity with his entrance. He stopped inside of her, letting her mold around his length. He could feel her pulsing around him in sync with the throbbing of his member. Slowly, he began to move inside of her. She arched with his thrusts, her hands moving frantically all over his body.

She lost herself in the dizziness of their love making. She could feel his finger rubbing her clit as he moved deeper and deeper inside of her. His tongue was on her neck, his right hand caressing her breast, the other pulling her waist to him with each thrust. 

She felt herself building up again and she could feel Rene pumping her faster, harder, more intensely. She shook as she came, all of her liquids dripping onto his shaft. He collapsed on top of her a moment later after reaching his climax as well.

He wrapped his arms around her back, and pulled her to him, breathing her in. Rose mimicked his actions, and before she knew what she was saying, it slipped from her mouth, "Rene, I love you…"

He pulled her tighter to him when he felt her tense up beneath him. She obviously hadn't meant to let _that _slip. He let her go and leaned up on his elbows, smiling down at her frightened face, "Well that's a relief, because here I was thinking it was only one sided."

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Okay, I don't know where any of that came from. You can blame my 18 yr. Old hormones, lmao. No, actually I've been reading a lot of Romance Novels lately, and I guess I just felt inspired to write a work of smut! So, there you have it. It's what you've been waiting for, right?

REVIEW!!

Pammi


	15. My Funny Valentine

Hey, ya'll, I'm really sorry for not updating. And now, the groveling and explaining begins: Work, my part-time job has gone from scheduling me 15hr/wk, to 29hr/wk. Not only that, but college is draining me dry, getting up and having to be in class at eight in the morning five days a week. Also, I have taken up a SECOND job at the library on campus, because I'm poor and in need of money, so the work-study program should help with that.

Unfortunately, because of all of these hectic schedule conflicts, I scarcely have any time to chill out, much less write. And I hate it. I love to write, and I hate letting people down. I know my little updates and my humble fan fictions aren't that important to all your lives, but I know you seem to like to read it, and I love to provide it. So, I assure you that I'm going to keep on writing, and I'll try to keep my updates exactly that: Up to date. Okay, that being said, on with the chapter!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Fourteen: My Funny Valentine

Rose rolled over into a cold, empty space. Her eyes flew open and searched the room. It was quiet with no sound of a shower, no sound of a television, and no breaths, save for her own. She slowly sat up, thinking that perhaps it had all been a dream, but to her own treacherous dismay she realized that everything had really happened. She was, in fact, in Rene's room.

She and Rene had made love, and what's more, she had told him that she loved him. She hadn't meant for that to slip from her mouth, but it did. It had come out so naturally, so easily, as if she had known it all along. He had told her that he loved her too…sort of. Rose crinkled her brow in contemplation. 

She looked around the room again, confused and a little dizzy. She shook her head and felt something warm leaving her body and she looked down. Blood. She was bleeding. At that sight, it hit her. The reality of it all. Her body hurt, she was bleeding, she had given herself to a man for the first time in her life, and the most harsh part of it all, was that the man she had given herself to and confessed her love for, was no where to be found. She was alone. 

Rose felt herself shaking in her skin. She didn't know she was supposed to bleed this much. Where was it all coming from, and what the Hell was she supposed to do now? Tears starting flowing down her cheeks. Was this it? Had he just left without saying anything? She was frozen there, on the bed looking down at her plight, crying and scared. Then the door opened.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Ro-" Rene stopped before finishing his sentence, dropping the box of twenty-four long-stemmed red roses at his feet. Rose was sitting on the bed, the sheets growing red with her blood and her eyes leaking tears; tears of fear, confusion, and doubt. He rushed to her side, "Rose? Are you okay?" he asked as he pulled her into his arms. 

Rose sat there, frozen in his arms before wrapping her arms around his neck and releasing her tears into his chest. "Rene?" she choked, "Where did you go…I thought that you…you might have-" she broke off.

"Left?" he finished her question as he took off his shirt, wrapped her in the sheet, then picked her up bridal style and carried her to the bathroom. He felt her nod in response then kissed her forehead. "I did leave," he smiled.

Rose looked at him in confusion as he sat her on the toilet seat and then grasped her chin to meet her gaze, "It's Valentine's Day. I had to get you a gift. Besides, you looked like an angel lying there at twelve. I couldn't wake you."

"Oh," was all she could manage. She then noticed that he was turning on the bath faucet, "What are you doing?" 

"You'll see," he said as he began to leave the room. Rose instinctively reached out and snatched his hand to keep him from going anywhere. Rene smiled and lifted her fingertips to his lips, lightly kissing them, "I'll be right back, mes aimer (my love)."

Rose sighed in both relief and frustration. She was relieved that he wasn't leaving her, and she was frustrated because she felt weak. What had happened to her. Where was her inner strength, her determination, her willpower? Where was the independent, Rosalyn Bryant? Her thoughts were interrupted when Rene came back into the room carrying some kind of bottle. 

He flashed Rose a thoughtful smile before pouring in the Lavender bubble bath. Rose closed her eyes as soon as the fragrance hit her nose. She then felt herself being stood up and the sheet leaving her body. Her eyes snapped open to see Rene tossing the sheet to the ground. 

"Are you okay, baby? Are you still…" he trailed off motioning his head toward the direction of the discarded sheet. 

Rose shook her head, "No. I don't think so." 

"Good," he smiled, bending down to turn off the running water. "You relax and take a bath, okay? I've got to go out for a little while, but I'll be back at about seven. Will you stay here while I'm gone?"

Rose tried not to frown and hide her disappointment. 'He's leaving…again?' "Yah. I'll stay." She looked at the clock. Three-thirty. Had she really been out that long? 

Rene gave her a peck on the forehead and exited the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and leaving her to her thoughts. He picked up his keys from the nightstand, then picked up Rose's pair of discarded pants and checked the size. Smiling, he picked up the roses he had dropped earlier and placed them on the chair in the corner. 

Rene looked at the bed and frowned. He felt bad for making her bleed. He hadn't meant to hurt her or to have been so rough. He thought that he had been extremely gentle with her. Sighing, he picked up the phone and asked to have the room cleaned and the bed made a.s.a.p. 

Finally, he decided that he was ready to hit the town, and he left, heading for the mall, determined to get Rose something really nice for Valentine's Day. He hadn't known what to get her earlier, and had settled for the roses, but after seeing her just now, he concluded that she deserved more. 

~~~

Randy drew in the scent of blueberry pancakes as he awoke from his slumber. He noticed that his lovely woman was no where to be found…or actually, ravished, so he pushed himself out of bed and headed downstairs, pulling on a pair of sweats as he went. 

The blueberry scent grew stronger as he descended the stairs, and the smell of bacon and eggs also flooded his nostrils. When he finally reached the bottom of the staircase, he was greeted by Tim Davis' ornery grin. "Hey, Tim," Randy nodded.

"Mornin', Randy," Tim greeted back. "I didn't hear you two come in last night. It must have been pretty late. Annie told me ya'll took the redeye."

"Yup," Randy yawned. "Speaking of Annie, is that her in there cooking or am I just smelling things?"

"Nah, you're just smelling things," Tim chuckled then motioned his head toward the kitchen.

Randy nodded with a smile and made his way toward the scent. His mouth watered at the sight before him. Blueberry pancakes, bacon, eggs, grits, and a sexy chef to go with it. He smirked as he realized that Annie had yet to notice his presence. He snuck up on his prey easily, taking each step quickly, yet silently. His smirk growing, Randy made his move.

"EEK!" Annie squeaked as she felt a hand grab a hold of her butt. She spun around to come face to face with none other than Randy Keith Orton and his priceless cocky smirk.

"Hey, good looking," he grinned, reaching around her and grabbing a piece of bacon, tossing it in his mouth.

'Oh that's it,' she thought to herself. She smacked his hand as he reached for another piece, "You're just going to have to wait until everything is done!" she lectured.

"Aww, c'mon, Annie…" he whined, "What am I gonna do in the meantime?" 

"I don't know. You're just going to have to figure something out," she said haughtily before turning her attention back to her cooking.

Randy tightened his jaw, his smirk ever-growing. He spun her back around and pinned her against the counter, "I could think of a few things that would take my mind off my hunger," he rasped huskily into her ear.

Annie ignored the flame he had just ignited within her and reached for a piece of bacon, "Fine. Have it your way, you big jerk," she said teasingly as she stuffed the bacon in his mouth when he tried to kiss her.

He chewed his bacon happily, "Fair enough," he said as he pretended to walk away. Annie, as predicted, turned around and tended to her scrambled eggs. She was humming again when she felt another firm grip on her ass. "RANDY KEITH ORTON!!!" she yelped.

Outside the kitchen, a chuckling Tim shook his head. 'To be young again,' he thought mirthfully to himself. 

~~~

Rose bit her lip as she looked around the room to make sure everything was in place. She felt so silly for everything that she had done. After the housekeeper had arrived, Rose had gone out and bought rose petals and candles. She had actually even called up for room service, which had just arrived. She was, at the moment, grateful that it wasn't daylight savings time. 

It was six-thirty and Rene would be back soon. She couldn't believe how nervous she was or what she was doing. Rose had never shared Valentine's Day with anyone, and she felt kind of foolish doing up the room like she had done, but she really wanted to show him how much she…cared about him. She knew that she must have scared the crap out of him earlier when he walked in on her and the way she was sitting on the bed.

She looked around at all the candles she was about to light as she pulled out the large lighter she had bought earlier. 'I better get busy,' she thought to herself as she made her way around the room and lighted the numerous candles. When her task was done, she opened the containers of rose petals. She made sure that the bed was covered, and then started on scattering them about the floor and even putting a few on the table where they would eat.

She was spreading the last handful when she heard whistling in the hall. She quickly threw the remaining petals onto the floor, lit the candles on the table, and ran to the peephole to see that it was, in fact Rene, coming down the hallway. "Sure enough," she spoke aloud. 

All the nerves in her stomach were jumping and she was suddenly very warm with anticipation. 'What if he laughs at this? In the movies, it's usually the man who does all of this stuff,' she contemplated with a sigh, 'Oh well. Too late now.' She hoped he at least liked her dress.

Rene turned the key, as he knocked on the door, "Honey, I'm-" he didn't finish as he took in the sight of the room. There were an assortment of candles: Tall ones, short ones, skinny ones, fat ones, but all of them were white, and lit. Also, the room was covered in crimson rose petals. The bed, the floor, even the table had some strewn atop it. His eyes then stumbled upon the fairest site in the room: Rose. 

She was dressed in a black, figure fitting, spaghetti strap dress that stopped halfway down her thighs. Her blond hair was down and curled under, resting on her shoulders. Her emerald eyes sparkled in the candle light that also illuminated her features, making her seem dreamlike. What made him smile, other than the fact that she was barefooted, was that she was holding one of the long-stemmed roses he had left for her earlier. That, and the fact that she had done all of this for him. 

She came toward him with the rose, her eyes unsure, "Happy Valentine's Day," she whispered in the sweetest tone.

Rene sighed happily as he held out his gift for her, "Happy Valentine's Day to you too." 

Rose took the medium-sized gift-wrapped box from his hands, "You didn't have to. You got me the roses," she smiled, gesturing to where the box of roses still sat on the chair in the corner.

"I know, but I thought about it and I decided that you needed another gift," he grinned anxiously, "open it."

Rose did as she was told, and her jaw dropped when she pulled out a red, strapless, lace on satin dress. It was fine material that shimmered in the dim, glowing light. "I don't know what to say," she finally said breathlessly. 

"Don't say anything. May I?" he asked as he reached for the dress.

Rose blushed as she handed it over and he came closer to her and unzipped the dress she was wearing. Her skin tingled as his fingertips grazed her skin while pulling down the straps around her shoulders. Her black dress fell to the floor with a silent thud. Rose felt suddenly very embarrassed, but that emotion soon left her when Rene gave her a slight nibble on her bare neck. He put the other dress on over her head and pulled it down, zipping it up in the back. 

Rene stepped back to take her in, "A perfect fit. God, you're beautiful."

Rose blushed and looked down, not used to getting so much attention, "So…do you like the room? I kinda redecorated," she smiled, trying to move his attention somewhere besides solely on her. She just couldn't bear him looking at her like that. It made her want to do very unspeakable things. Things that were reminiscent of the previous night. She was brought out of her thoughts by his reply.

"Are you kidding? I love it…" he paused as he came back to her and drew her into his arms. He looked down into her emerald eyes, "…_I love you_."

Looking back into his loving eyes, Rose couldn't keep the words or the happiness inside her heart, "I love you, Rene," she confessed. She was speaking the truth. It had to be. There was a time last night where she lay awake, wondering whether or not she had meant what she said to him about loving him. 

She wondered if she was just still in after shock of their love-making or if she truly had any idea of what she was saying. However, now, looking into his eyes-into the windows of his soul, she could see herself. She could see her dreams, her future, his love, and in her heart, she could feel herself mirroring his affection. She loved him too. It was an unquestionable fact now.

How it had come to be, she had no idea. But she did know one thing. She never wanted to lose it. With those thoughts she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed him warmly, "I ordered room service. Are you ready to eat dinner?"

"Only if I get to eat _you_ for desert," he said smacking her playfully on the ass.

Rose leaned back to look him in the face, "Oh, you'll get desert," she smiled wickedly before lightly squeezing his package through his pants.

Rene was left gasping as she walked away and seated herself at the table,

"Well, are you going to sit here and eat with me, or are you going to stand there with that deprived look on your face."

Rene smiled and walked over to where she sat, "Neither, actually."

"Huh?" Rose stared at him confused.

"I'd much rather dance than eat," he smiled.

"We don't have any music," Rose pointed out.

Rene held out his hand, "Doesn't matter."

Rose smiled and took his hand, and they danced among the candle light and rose petals. There was no music, just two people dancing to the rhythm of their hearts and their new found love.

That night they made love for the second, third, fourth, and fifth time on a bed of rose petals and a room of candles. Their dinner went untouched, but it's the thought that counts.

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Well, there it is. Sorry, it ain't all that great, but I tried. I'm really sorry for the lack of updates, ya'll. I'll try to keep getting them out, though.

REVIEW!!!

Pammi


	16. The Men

Okay, ya'll! I'm back with another chapter!! Thanks for being so sweet you guys!! I didn't go to class today, lol. I just couldn't get out of bed. I know I should have, but I'm just so damn exhausted, lol. Anyway, here you go!

Chapter Fifteen: The Men

~Saturday, 6 March 2004~

Randy rolled over onto his side and draped an arm over the air. His eyes shot open when he didn't feel Annie next to him. Yawning, he got out of bed and looked around the hotel room. It had been about three weeks since Annie had told him the news. 

At first he had been shocked, but he still firmly believed in his mind that they, as a couple, could handle it. What worried him most was not the baby, but he and Annie's wedding. He didn't want his first born to be illegitimate, a bastard. He knew Annie felt the same way, but they still hadn't talked about moving the wedding up.

Randy walked over to the bathroom door which was slightly ajar. He heard the familiar sound of Annie retching over the toilet and smiled. She had been sick nearly every morning of her pregnancy, and he couldn't help but admire her strength. Every time she got done in the bathroom, she was ready to go. 

Her working habits hadn't changed, nor her eating habits. The only thing that had changed was their love making. It was ten times as intense. She always wanted to be in control, and she always _it._ In the morning, after lunch, during the shows, after the shows, and during the night. Randy had never been so loved. He had never heard of women being more horny during pregnancy, but he just went with the flow.

He was always careful though, and so was she. Because of that, their sex lasted longer. Randy looked down at the forming bulge in his pants and tried to calm himself. Annie would laugh her ass off if she saw the tent forming in his boxers. He tried to move his thoughts to other subjects.

Randy smiled as he thought about the wedding again. He and Annie had decided on a traditional church wedding. They would invite all their friends, all the superstars, of course, their families, and as much as they adored the WWE fans, they both decided that they didn't want it televised. Not only would it screw with the storylines, but it was also something personal that they felt should only be shared between the people they know personally. 

He knocked on the door, "Annie, you alright? Do you need a glass of water?"

"I'm-" retch, "fine-" retch, "thanks" retch, "honey." She sighed as she sat up and leaned against the basin of the bathtub, "Damn, I feel like shit," she was finally able to speak without hurling. She flushed the toilet.

"Okay, so _now_ do you want anything? Can I come in?" Randy's voice was nearly a plea. He had to pee, yes, but he also wanted to hold his woman.

"Alright. Come in," she sighed.

Randy opened the door and smiled at the disheveled mess that sat, panting on the floor. After taking a much needed piss, he eased himself down next to her and pulled her into his lap, kissing her head he sighed, "Let's get married, already."

Bringing up the topic of a wedding date so suddenly caught Annie off guard, "Huh?" She shook her head, "When?"

"I don't know. Now. Today. Tomorrow. Soon. I want to be your husband. I want our child to be legitimate and I want to buy our own house. One with a little garden, so that while I'm away, and you're recovering, you can plant the flowers you're always talking about."

Annie sighed, "One with a porch swing and a big a tree in the front yard. "

"I could build a club house or a tire swing for our baby."

"I could decorate the nursery-"

"And the rest of the house too," he laughed.

"Yah, I want that. I want to get married now, too."

Randy smiled and kissed the top of her head, "We will. We'll put something together. Mom would probably love to help. Where do you want to have it?"

"We can have it in St. Louis. That way both of our families and our friends will know how to get there."

"Yah, if we had it in Piedmont, everyone would be like, 'Pied-where?'" he laughed when Annie slugged him in the gut. 

Annie let out a sigh as she nestled closer to him, "Randy…" she urged.

"Now?"

"Mm hmm," she nodded her head as she took a cert out of her pocket, ate it, then attacked Randy with her lips, "Right now."

"Yes, Ma'am," Randy saluted before picking her up and carrying her to the bed. "Does talking about marriage turn you on that much?"

"Not really, but you do," she smiled seductively when he laid her down onto the soft mattress. He planted kisses on her forehead, her neck, her shoulders, gradually moving downward. He marveled at her beauty. Every time he saw her naked, or made love to her, it was just as exciting as the first time.

Randy's worries about their baby, their love, and their marriage were small. His only whim was that it wasn't happening soon enough. Without another thought, Randy commenced their love making, slow and steady. They moaned simultaneously when he entered her, pumping slowly in and out. They were extra careful for the baby's sake. 

Randy wouldn't allow himself to go too hard or too fast. He would keep a steady pace, teasing her with it, and tormenting himself. When they finally reached their peaks, Randy would kiss her lips, then kiss her stomach. He would roll off of her or she would roll off of him, which ever way they ended up, and they would cuddle until noon.

Laying there, her little body tightly engulfed in his firm embrace, Randy finally spoke, "Let's do it next weekend."

"Do what next weekend?"

"Get married," he squeezed her shoulders to emphasize his excitement.

Annie looked up at him, her eyes a deep shade of blue, and nodded her head, "I love you."

"I love you, too," he kissed her lips lovingly, then caught sight of the clock, "We better get up."

~~~

Rene made his way to Rose's hotel room. They had decided to stay in separate rooms and not to take things too fast. They were making love semi-frequently (everyday), but they each wanted to give the other space. Rene knew that Rose was still insecure about certain things, well everything. He could look in her eyes and still see traces of fear.

She was obviously afraid that this wasn't real or something. Rose seemed constantly paranoid that he was going to dump her at any given moment. He couldn't understand why she felt that way. Didn't she know that she was beautiful? Didn't she know how much he wanted her, day and night? How much he missed her when she wasn't there in his arms? How much he loved her?

How could she know? He hadn't directly told her that he loved her. After they had made love that first time, neither of them had uttered those three little words since. Maybe he was just waiting for the right time. He wasn't sure of the reason, but he couldn't say it. Whenever he saw her, he just couldn't say it. 'Am I afraid?' he questioned himself.

Still unsure, Rene knocked gently on Rose's door, "Are you up yet? Your test is in forty-five min-"

Rose cut him off when she opened the door, "I'm ready."

'Yes, you are,' he thought hungrily to himself. She looked professional, but sexy. Her hair was in a tight bun, she wore a sleek, sophisticated, lavender blouse, with a pair of equally attractive black slacks. Her shoes were open-toed heels, that had three small straps holding her perfect toes to the shoe. Rene looked her up and down before grabbing her by the waist and walking her backwards into her hotel room.

"Mmmmm…" he moaned as she finally gave up the struggle and kissed him back. He knew she be pissed at him later for messing up her outfit, but right now he didn't care.

"Rene," she moaned as she reached her hands up into his shirt, "I'm going to be late. I really want to get my license."

Rene swallowed hard and released her, "Okay."

Rose smiled at how good he was. He never did anything she didn't want him to…well, sex wise anyway. He would do some things that perturbed her such as opening doors for her, paying for her, and…and looking at her the way he was at that very moment. Lord, she hated that look. It always made her want to rip his clothes off and-she had better stop thinking.

Rene came toward her and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, "You ready?"

"Yup. Let me get my purse," she said with an optimistic, excited tone. She was so happy that she was going to take her driver's test today. They had been practicing again, and now the moment of truth was soon at hand.

Rene could see the anticipation in her eyes. He knew she would pass. She hadn't forgot her turn signal once in the last three weeks that they had been training. She just had to pass. He couldn't contain his own excitement as Rose walked past him, and he swatted her firmly on the ass.  


She turned toward him, jaw dropped, "Why, you-"

"It was just a good luck pat!" Rene put his hands up in defense and gave an innocent smile.

Rose burst out laughing at the sight and they continued their way to the car. Rene vowed that after her lesson he was going to ravish her. His thoughts were interrupted when his cell went off.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Rene! It's Randy. Look, Annie and I want to talk to you about our wedding plans. Are you guys going to be busy tomorrow around three?"

"I don't think so, hold on though," he put his cell down and looked at a curious Rose. "Are we busy around three tomorrow?" he asked her. She shrugged and shook her head, then Rene raised his phone back to his ear, "Nope, we're free. Where do you want to meet?"

~~~

After giving Rene all the details, Randy hung up and turned to Annie, "They'll be there." He then gave a mirthful sigh.

Annie tilted her head, "What? What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking that you were right about those two," he laughed. "Women and their damn intuition."

Annie laughed, "Of course I was right. Now, come here."

"Again?"

"Well, if you have a problem with that then I could catch up on my paper-"

"Are you insane? I was just curious. You're awfully…" he trailed off trying to think of the words, "hyper, lately."

"Hyper? I was thinking more along the lines of…" she leaned over and whispered a few little dirty descriptions that took immediate effect on him. She looked down at his crotch and cocked an eyebrow.

Within a blink of an eye they were naked and making love in the backseat of Randy's rental car at a deserted off-road recreation facility. Nevertheless, neither of them had ever been so thankful for tinted windows.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, so that's it. Nothing really happened in this chapter, I just wanted to give you some more Randy and Annie, and also a glimpse into the guy's heads, hence the title 'The Men.' I know Rene's didn't last that long, but he'll get more time later. Well, here we go:

Will Rose pass her driving test? Will Randy and Annie ever stop having sex long enough to do anything? Will Rene and Rose ever find the right moment to assert their love for one another? Why do Randy and Annie want to meet up with Rose and Rene to discuss their wedding?? What could they possibly have up their sleeve?

Well, you'll see if you keep reading my updates, lol. I'm out of here. Oh, and if you want to see the responses to your reviews then go to the link inside my bio. I put up a new website, as I told you once before. I hope that one is better than the last!

Pammi

Coming Soon:

Chapter Sixteen: Wedding Planner

Chapter Seventeen: Church Bells Ring…Are You Listening? (think of Walking In a Winter Wonderland, you know, 'Sleigh bells ring, are you listening…' you know how it goes, lol.


	17. Wedding Planners

Oh my gosh, you guys, I am so sorry. I don't know when my last update was, and that's pretty bad. At least you weren't waiting a month, right?? Heh heh *scratches head nervously* *sighs* Alright, I'm hiding something. Look, now that they are going to be splitting up the roster again, I'm not sure what will happen. I don't get Smackdown, because my cable company doesn't provide it *cries* so if Randy or Rene went over there, I wouldn't know what to do. I wouldn't know what happened, or who shares the back, or even how to write in Ric, Paul, or Dave as a group, so you see, I'd be screwed. So, that being said, this story is coming to an end. I had thought about ending it soon anyway, but now it's official. This story is coming to an end, but I promise that all loose ends will be tied up, and all things will fall into place. I'm sorry, I know this _seems_ like a short notice and it might be, however, I promise to work extra hard to make it flow and fall into place. Expect an epilogue, okay? Great, now on with the next chapter.

Chapter 16: Wedding Planner (s)

Annie and Randy sat in the booth side by side as they waited for Rose and Rene to show up. "Are you sure you want to get married so soon after Wrestlemania twenty?" Annie asked, looking worriedly up into Randy's eyes. She was worried that her husband to be may have a black eye or broken ribs on the day of their union. 'What fun that would be.'

"It'll just be the following Tuesday. It's perfect timing, really. Tuesdays are my day off, and the same goes for ninety percent of the other guys in the back."

"So, we're inviting all of the Raw and Smackdown locker room. Hell, most of the WWE, right?"

"Yup. Don't forget the family and friends. Okay, so who besides your dad are you going to invite?"

"Well, no one," Annie smiled weakly, "There's no one else to invite. I'm an only child, and we're not too close to the extended family. We're the black sheep of the family, and I don't want them to come anyway."

"Why not, honey? They're still you're family aren't they?"

"I suppose, but…" Annie tried to pick the exact words that would describe her family if they found out she was marrying Richey Rich, "They're mooches," she shrugged. Yes, that was the right word.

"Huh?"

"Well, if they find out how well I'm doing they'll be more than willing to play the part of adoring family. That's not what I want though. They can't just come up to me after years of ignoring my existence and expect me to except them. Is that wrong? Is it so much to ask that they love me for who I am instead of who I'm marrying and what I'm doing?"

Randy sighed as he pulled her to him, "No, babe. It's not too much to ask. They should have been there for you. They should have been there for you _and your dad._"

Annie smiled and took a deep breath, breathing in the scent of his cologne and his manliness. "Hmm…" she let out a contented sigh, "This is just so wonderful."

"I know. I've been thinking the same thing," he said pulling her closer, "Just think of how much better it will be when we get married. "I intend on spoiling you rotten."

Annie let out a laugh, "No complaints here."

"Nope, there won't be a need for complaints. When the baby gets here, I'm going to spoil him too."

"Over my dead body!" she slapped his pecks.

"Aw, c'mon. I'll punish him too. There'll be a good balance of spoiling and discipline, I promise," he whined.

"How about a good balance of love and discipline?" she smiled.

"Or that could work too," he conceded kissing her forehead.

There was a content pause before Annie glanced at her watch, "Where are those two? They were supposed to be here half an hour ago."

Randy was about to answer when he looked out the window to his right and saw two rental cars pull in. Rose got out of the driver's side of one, and Rene hopped out of the other. "It looks like Rose got her license," Randy observed as he nudged Annie to take a look at the huge grin on the young writer's face.

Annie smiled sweetly at the girl through the glass, "She'll make a beautiful maid of honor, won't she?"

"I think you were right in choosing her, hon." 

~~~

Rose smiled proudly at her perfect parking job. She ran over to Rene and dragged him over to see it, "See! It's the best job I've ever done!"

"Rene smiled at her excitement, "You passed your driver's test, Rose. You don't have anything left to prove."

"I know," she said a little embarrassed, "but I'm-"

"Proud?" he finished her sentence before wrapping his arms around her from behind. "C'mon, we better get in there, we're already late."

"Well, it's not my fault you couldn't wait to pull your pants off until after our meeting," she stoutly pointed out the facts.

"Hey, I'm a man. When I see a beautiful, blonde woman dressed the way you're dressed, it's only natural for me to get horny."

Rose snorted in disgust, "I'm wearing jeans and a t shirt!!"

He only held her tighter to him and smirked, "What?" he asked as he moved his hand over her mid drift, "You didn't want this?" he whispered in her ear, sending chills down her spine.

She slumped against him, "Must you rub it in?"

"Most definitely. Now, let's get in there," he said, grabbing her hand and leading her to the doors.

They weren't aware that they had been watched by two pairs of knowing and humored eyes. As Rene and Rose entered the restaurant, they immediately recognized Randy and Annie cuddling in a booth that was dangerously close to the window. If a fan happened to recognize either of the superstars and drew attention to them, it would be a hectic day. However, Randy and Rene were both wearing their caps and shades, so _that_ at least would give them some peace of mind.

"Hey you two," Randy motioned for them to come and sit down across from them.

When they sat down, Annie immediately sprang to attention, "So Rose, it looks like you passed your test! Let me see it!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Grinning ear to ear, Rose pulled out her new license, "Isn't it great!?!"

"Yup. Sorry I didn't ever get around to instructing you myself. I just got so swamped and-" she broke off her own sentence then cast glances from Rose to Rene, "Oh well, it looks like it worked out for the best anyway."

"Yah," Rose said softly, a light pink rising to her cheeks. She then perked up again, "So what's up? Why did you guys call us to meet you today?"

"Well…" Randy trailed off, building up the friendly suspense.

"Well?? Spit it out!" Rose demanded.

Annie smiled, "We called you here because we're planning the wedding. We've decided on a date!"

"You did? When?" Rene asked, happy that the two of them were going to get it over with. It needed to be done. They were both obviously very in love, and he hadn't understood why it had been put off for this long.

"The Tuesday after Wrestlemania," Randy answered with a proud smile.

"Whoa…Are you sure? I mean, we don't want the groom to have a black eye during the ceremony, do we?" Rose teased.

"Hey, no one is going to even come close to ruining this handsome face," Randy reassured, his cocky grin in place.

Rose shook her head, "Okay, well…that's great news. But why tell just the two of us? Why not tell everyone at the same time."

Annie piped up, "That's exactly what I was hoping you'd ask, Rose!"

"Huh? I don't get it-"

"Rose, I want you to be my maid of honor," Annie cut her off, unable to hold it in any longer.

Rose's eyes widened in shock, "Really? You want me to be you maid of honor? But don't you have someone closer. I mean, I'm honored, but-"

"No. You're the one I want. Ever since you came to the WWE, you've made me feel like an older sister to you, always asking advice and confiding in me. Rose, I don't have any siblings or close family. I know I haven't known you long, but I've secretly adopted you, so you have to do this!"

Rose laughed at her confession before her eyes filled with tears, "Of course I'll do it! I wouldn't miss it for the world. Thank you so much, Annie."

"It's okay," Annie fought back her own tears, then gave in and stood, pulling Rose up with her and into a hug, "This is going to be so much fun. You get to help me pick out everything!"

Randy and Rene cocked an eyebrow at each other, "Women," they stated in unison.

"Shut up!" they both answered back. 

Randy took a breath, "Rene, I'd also like to ask you to be one of my groom's men." 

Rene nodded and shook his hand in response, "Most definitely."

With all the secrets out in the open, Rene, Rose, Randy and Annie ordered lunch and ate together. Randy and Rene discussed their matches at Wrestlemania while Annie and Rose exchanged ideas for the wedding. It would be coming soon, and they had well over a hundred people to invite. Soon there would no longer be a Mr. Orton or a Ms. Davis. In a matter of weeks there would be Mr. and Mrs. Orton.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yay!! I got a chapter written!!! Woo-HOO!! OH YAH!! There's another one on the way, so sit tight, and while you're at it: REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!! 

Pammi


	18. Rose and Rene

Okay, here it is! The next chapter of The New Girl. Sorry, but 'Church Bells Ring, Are you listening' has to be postponed for a moment. I thought I could squeeze it in, but that's going to be closer to the finale. Alright. So, here it is. Oh, and if you want to check out responses to you review for Chapter 15, then head over to my new website for all of you reviewers, the address is in my bio, NG Responses link on the menu, then look for your name. Okay, so go ahead and check it out!

Chapter Seventeen: Rose and Rene (or R&R, lol. Get it? …alright, so I'm corny, bite me!)

Monday, 8 March 2004

Rose ran through the backstage area in a panic. Things were changing left and right and people were driving her insane. This Mick Foley it's your night thing was putting her in an aggressive 'Get the fuck out of my way, and where the Hell is the old lady' state of mind. Rose continued her hunt for the old broad as she rounded a corner and plowed straight into a person that was solid enough to be a brick wall. Of course, the amount of wrestlers in the backstage who _couldn't_ qualify as a brick wall were few. 

Rose shook her head and looked up to see The Rock staring down at her. "Uh…hi there…I…uh…" she stuttered helplessly.

"Dwayne Johnson," he extended his hand to hers, "I don't believe we've met. Now tell me…" he paused and winked, "Who, in the BLUE HELL are YOU??"

Rose swallowed hard. He had managed to draw the attention of every superstar and every crew hand within earshot to their very awkward situation, "I'm uh…" Rose trailed off, knowing what would surely come next if she even attempted to answer. Stiffening her neck and looking straight into his eyes with her regained composure, Rose shot off her mouth for the first time in her young, short life, "It doesn't matter what my name is! You're in the way, Rocky!"

The Rock cocked an eyebrow before bursting with laughter, "That's pretty good, uh…what's your name again??"

Trusting that he wouldn't dis her, Rose answered, "Rose Bryant."

"Rose, huh?" he thought about it for a minute, "Nope, doesn't ring a bell. You're new right?"

"Right. I'm on the creative team. I've only been here for a few months."

Dwayne took a deep breath and extended his hand, "You know, you haven't been welcomed until _The Rock _welcomesyou, right?"

Rose released a nervous grin, "Right."

"Well then, The Rock says he welcomes you to the WWE, Rose," he shook her hand then walked away. He stopped at the corner and turned back toward her shocked form, "Watch where you're going next time though, sweetheart. The Rock would hate to have to bitch slap your candy ass," he laughed.

'That was interesting,' Rose chuckled to herself before heading off in search of the old lady again. The 'It's Your Night' would be starting after the next commercial break, and Rose needed to make sure the old woman knew what she was doing and where she was going.

Rose rounded another corner when she heard a familiar voice from behind her, "This belong to you?"

Rose turned to see Randy guiding the elderly woman to a vending machine, "Yes! Oh my God! Where did you find her?"

"She was over by the sound trailer," Randy shrugged. 

Rose shook her head, then guided the old woman all the way back to the curtains. When the time came she pointed the direction she would be walking, and told her to do what The Rock told her to do. "Jimmy will be out soon to escort you back here."

"I know. I've got it Missy. Don't worry about me. I can handle anything!"

They had obviously picked the right lady to do this. She really was feisty. Rose descended the stairs that led down from the ramp and went back toward Annie's office. 

They had been working diligently on getting the wedding set up. Annie had chosen Rose, Stephanie, and Randy's sister, Becky to be her bridesmaids. Randy had chosen his younger brother, Nathan as his best man, and Paul and Rene as his other grooms men. 

Rose came to a halt, along with her wedding thoughts, when she saw Rene standing in front of catering talking to Rob. She and Rene had been doing so well, but she still felt some kind of nagging in the back of her head. She hadn't told him she loved again since the first time they made love. There were plenty of moments when she could have, and she wanted to, but something was holding her back. 

She didn't know why she had such a hard time saying it. Was it that important anyway? Did he really need to hear it? Hell, if it was so important to him, then why wasn't he saying it? Rose thought back to his initial response, 'Well, that's a relief, because here I was thinking it was only one-sided.' The memory made her quiver. Does that mean that he loved her? Or was he just caught up in the moment? He didn't exactly come out and say it like she had. Maybe it was just his way…

Rose shook her head. He had been so kind, so loving. He still was. He held her close to him like she was something to be treasured. Why then, did she feel so insecure? It was that voice inside her head again. Tearing her down and making her question everything and everyone with heightened paranoia. She couldn't get away from the past. 

It wouldn't allow her to accept the fact that someone could love her and cherish her. She had been thrown away time after time by one person or another, beginning with her parents. Her own flesh and blood hadn't even wanted her. How could she allow herself to get comfortable with people knowing that the very people who had birthed her didn't want her? 

She drew in a shaky breath. Why was she thinking of this now? Why couldn't these terrible thoughts…these memories just stop? Why wouldn't they just leave her alone? How could she ever be happy when all of these bad things kept resurfacing in her mind? Rose needed to get out of there. She needed air. She shouldn't be thinking these things, not now. There was a wedding to plan. Annie and Randy's wedding, and she was the maid of honor. That had to say something.

Shaking her head, Rose ran out of the arena and into the parking lot. She desperately needed air. She couldn't breathe in that hallway. Not when all of her thoughts surrounded her like that. She was unaware that Rene had seen her run, and had followed her outside.

"Rose?" he called.

Rose turned around abruptly, "Rene? What are you doing out here?"

"Well, I don't have anything else to do. Besides, I saw you run out like a bat out of Hell, so I followed you to see what's up. So…what's up?"

Rose let out a sigh before plopping down on a median, "I don't know. I just keep thinking all these stupid things. It's silly, really."

"If it's so silly, then why are you flipping out? Why'd you feel the sudden urge to run out of the arena?" Rene questioned, clearly not buying her 'everything is fine' act.

"Rene, I-" she broke off looking down, "it's hard to talk about."

Rene walked over to her and sat down beside her. Draping an arm around her shoulders, he squeezed her supportively, "I'm here. I promise, that whatever you say, stays here, between us okay?" 

Rose looked up, unsure as to whether or not she was ready to tell him everything, 

"Alright."

"Alright. C'mon, tell me what's been going on," Rene pushed. He had been noticing her withdraw recently. She had used the wedding as an excuse, but he knew better. She was hiding. Maybe not from him, necessarily, but definitely from herself or maybe from their relationship…he didn't know. Maybe if she let it out, she could get over it. '_Maybe if you told her how much you love her_, she'd feel a little better, **_jackass_**,' his inner voice nagged him.

"Rene, I've been having doubts…"

"About what? Your job? You're a great writer, why would you-"

"No. About us," she interrupted.

"Oh…" he paused to think about it for a minute. Doing so, his inner voice smirked at him, 'Told you so.'

"What I mean is," Rose paused to think of the words, "What I mean is, I think I know how I feel about you, but I don't know how you feel about me. I mean, what are we?"

"What do you mean, 'what are we?' And you _think_ you know how you feel about me or you _know _how you feel about me?" Rene urged as if her response was crucial to his life.

Rose took a breath. This wasn't how she envisioned this conversation, but she figured it was now or not at all. She scooted away from him, then turned to face him, wanting to look directly into his eyes when she spoke to him. "Rene, I don't know what we are. We never made anything official. We're watching a movie one minute, and then fucking the next. We never talk about being committed or share what we feel." 

Rene was shocked, and his expression showed it. He stood up, looking down at her, suddenly angry that she could think such terrible things about his intentions toward her. "First of all, how can you call what we've done together 'fucking'? You should know how I feel-"

"Why are you angry with me?" Rose stood, not wanting to hear it. She couldn't believe how screwed up this entire conversation was becoming. "I didn't mean to piss you off Rene. I just-" She choked, "I just want to know if you love me like I love you!"

Rene felt the anger drain from his body. His inner voice had been right all along. She didn't know. He was silent for several minutes, trying to think of what to say. When he noticed Rose turning around to walk away, obviously regretting what she had just blurted out, _for the second time since he'd known her_. Rene ran in front of her, blocking her way, "Where do you think you're going? Don't you want an answer?"

Rose looked at the ground, "No. I think I already know what you're going to say, and I understand. I don't expect you to-"

"Rose, look at me," he lifted her chin to look into her tear ridden, emerald orbs, "I was mad, because I don't think of us being intimate as 'fucking.' When we're together, to me, it's making love. I know it's the same way for you because I can feel the emotion in every kiss. I guess I always thought that you could feel it too."

"Rose, I never talked about this or about commitment, because I thought it was just understood. I'm a man, Rose, you have to understand. I don't have intuition, I just kind of guess at things. I do have feelings, though, and I know what they are. I love you, Rose. Very much, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I should have been telling you every day, but I was unsure of your feelings too. I guess it's true what they say. Fear is the strongest emotion. My fear of rejection got in the way, and I'm sorry."

Rose blinked back tears, "I don't think fear is the strongest emotion, Rene. It can't be…if it were, it would still be winning. I love you, too. I promise to make it known everyday from now on."

"Me too, babe," Rene promised as he leaned forward and kissed her sincerely. It was filled with love, need, and understanding; three emotions essential to every relationship, official or otherwise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, there you have it. Two in one day isn't so bad, now is it?? That's what I thought. Anyway, I'm not feeling the greatest tonight. My throat is sore, and I've scarcely uttered a word all day. Anyway, special thanks to Lisa for the help on Randy's family tree, lol. Much love, chica.

Pammi

REVIEW DAMN YOU!! I WANT ONE FOR EACH CHAPTER! I THINK I DESERVE IT FOR SLAVING AWAY IN HERE ALL DAY WITH A HEADACHE AND A SORE THROAT!! NOW HAND 'EM OVER! GIVE ME SOME DAMN REVIEWS!! 


	19. Wedding Bells Ring, Are You Listening?

To My Beloved Reviewers,

Hey everyone…how are you? Well, I was doing some thinking, and I've decided to do something completely spontaneous, lol. I was thinking about doing a challenge fiction. Now, there are some things that I do not want to do, and I know that kind of puts a damper on things but I just don't like the idea of writing certain types of stories. They just make me uncomfortable, and I'm afraid that I'd eventually lose direction. If I start something I intend to finish it, but certain types of stories just **_cause_** writer's block. 

While I was first trying to start writing, I came up with some ideas that, at first, were pretty good. Eventually, however, I couldn't finish the story and it just ended badly. So, I've picked up a few stipulations or rules for challenge fiction suggestions. Okay here we go:

1) No OCs that are related to the wrestlers or anyone in the WWE. If it's an OC, she/he has to be completely original with a completely blank past and no ties or friendships to any of the wrestlers, board members, etc, etc. I just can't write this type of story for some reason. It just doesn't work for me. Kudos to those of you who can accomplish what I can not. Suggestions for relationships between different wrestlers is totally fine; the story doesn't have to involve an OC. 

2) I can't write slash I suck at it. I can read it, but I can't write it. 

3) Please no cross-overs. Um…I just…there's no way.

4) Don't make me kill you. :0 lol. Jk. Just please be realistic and try to think of something new or original. I don't really want to do something that's already been done. 

Okay, those are the boundaries. I know, what's the point of a challenge fic if you have rules? Well, I want to be able to complete it. I'm basically letting you pick what you want me to write and who you want me to write about. I know it may sound kind of foolish, but I really like all of you and I want you stick with me. I like being able to read my reviews and recognize who they're coming from, you know? I really, really do appreciate any and all suggestions/challenges. It's all good. So, with that said, here's the chapter you've all been waiting for. 

Chapter Eighteen: Church Bells Ring…Are You Listening?

~Saturday, 20 March 2004~

It was the first day of Spring and the sun was shining it's brightest. Annie looked over to her maid of honor and noticed that she was being slightly quiet today. "Rose, is there something the matter? We've been at this park for thirty minutes, sitting in sun, and being QUIET! Now, tomorrow is my wedding day and you haven't even said one word. I know you're excited about being a maid of honor, so what gives?"

Rose turned toward her good friend, a contented smile on her face, "Sorry, Annie. I was just thinking…"

"Oh, speaking of Rene, how are you two?"

"Huh? How did you know that was who I was thinking about?"

"C'mon, it's only written all over your face. You're practically sighing your affection," Annie laughed.

"Shut up!" Rose gave Annie a light smack on the arm, "Everything is so…great."

"I'll bet. I don't think I've ever seen you smile like this before. I remember a few months ago when we first met. You were so sad and you seemed so lonely."

"Was it that obvious? Gosh, I don't know what happened to me. I really can't believe it wasn't all that long ago. I don't even recognize the person I used to be. I look in the mirror, and it's me…but at the same time, it's someone new staring back. I can't describe it, but he just makes me so…"

"Happy?" Annie smiled, knowingly.

"Yes. So _very_ happy," Rose shook her head of her thoughts, "I'm sorry. You're the one getting married. How does it feel?"

"How does what feel?" Annie questioned with a toothy grin. "You mean how does it feel to know that I'm going to be spending the rest of my life with the man I love?"

"No. I'm sure you're ecstatic about marrying the man of your dreams. I was wondering how it felt to know that you're about to become Mrs. Randy Keith Orton. Or, in simpler terms, How does it feel to know you're going to become Mrs. MACHO!!" With the last word, Rose burst into laughter while Annie stared wide-eyed.

"How did you know about that? We've never told anyone about the 'Mr. Macho' thing. He'd kill me if it got around to the guys!! Who told you??"

"No one. I over heard you guys talking my first week of work," Rose laughed, "I had never heard anything so corny before," she continued to chuckle.

"Oh be quiet! You just wait until Rene starts saying weird guy stuff like that! I'm going to laugh my ass of the moment I hear you call him something equally lame. Something like…" Annie pursed her lips as she thought, then she giggled, "Something like Mr. Frenchy!" 

Rose guffawed, "Hey now! He may be of French decent, but it's Canadian French, okay? If I call him anything it's going to be Mr. Canadian bacon or something manly like that!" Rose tried to keep a straight face, but a few seconds later both girls were in fits of hysterics. 

"Rose, you are definitely **_not_** the same person you were three months ago."

"Well, neither are you. You're a wife and mother to be. It's a good thing you and Randy are getting married now. You're starting to show a little bit," Rose gestured to Annie's kaki Capri pants which weren't buttoned, but instead held together by a rubber band linking the button to it's hole. "Why don't you just buy some maternity clothes?"

Annie smiled widely, "Well, for one, it's a waste of money. Secondly, I really like these pants," she chuckled.

"Well, they do look good on you…rubber band and all," Rose joked, then turned serious, "Are you ready to go and pick up the dresses now? We've been here a while, you know?"'

"Yup! I'm more than ready. I just needed a short rest. Let's go get those dresses!"

"Right on. Let's go!"

With that Rose hopped up from where they sat on the ground under a large tree, and then held our her hands for Annie. Pulling her up, Rose thought about how much her life had changed, and how much she was grateful that it finally had. How long had she gone on thinking that she couldn't be happy and that no one could befriend or love her? Why had she thought that she could be happy alone? Rose had found out for herself during her time with the WWE that she was quite the people person. She loved to talk and be around people, especially Rene.

It was thoughts and days like this that made Rose feel at peace with herself and her choices. She had decided that the past was behind her, and that the future was irrelevant so long as she was happy. Life was meant to be lived in the present, and with that thought, Rose came out of her thoughts and returned to the here and now. She and Annie talked as they walked the two blocks to the tailor's where there dresses were. Stephanie would be there along with Randy's sister. 

From there they would go to the Orton's home and drop off the dresses, then head over to the church for the rehearsal. Things were going well, and Rose was sure the wedding would be beautiful. It just couldn't be any other way, not for two people like Randy and Annie. No two people deserved a wonderful, blessed union more than those two people, and Rose was dedicated to make sure she did all she could to help make that wedding brilliant. 

~Sunday, 21 March 2004. An Undisclosed Church in St. Louis, Missouri 10:50 a.m.~

Annie looked out the little window of her dressing room. She smiled as she saw Randy taking his place at the alter, tears of joy about to spill over onto her cheeks. He looked so handsome in his black tuxedo. She turned to face Annie, Stephanie, and Becky and wiped the tears from her eyes, "How do I look?"

"You look great, sweetie," Stephanie smiled, "but you'd look even better if you let one of us zip you up."

The four girls giggled as Becky came over and zipped up her soon to be sister-in-law's dress, "There. Now you're perfect." Becky continued to look at Annie, then she wrapped her arms around her, "Annie, I'm so glad he found you. You're everything a family could want in an in-law. I'll be proud to call you my sister."

Annie squeezed the young girl in return, and smiled, "You just had to wait until now to tell me that, didn't you? You're going to make me cry now and my mascara's going to ruin."

Rose, being her sentimental self wiped a tear from her own eyes at the display of affection between Annie and Randy's sister. "Don't worry about your mascara Annie," she sniffled, "it's waterproof."

They all laughed at Rose's sweetness, and Stephanie gave her a hug, "Better?"

They gave each other one good final once over then, at the precise moment the clock struck 10:59, they heard Randy's mother on the outside of the dressing room, "Time to line up, girls." 

With that, the three bride's maids exited the dressing room and lined up next to their escorts. Randy's brother, Nathan, being the best man, escorted Rose. Rene escorted Becky, and Stephanie was escorted be her husband, Paul. When the clock hit 11:00, they marched two by two to the alter. As soon as everyone was in place, the wedding march began to play and the guests rose to their feet.

Tim beamed down at his daughter as he locked arms with her. "You look amazing," he whispered as they began to round the corner that would lead them into the sights of the wedding guests and the groom. 

"Thank you, daddy. I love you. Don't forget, I'll always be your little girl."

"I know, sweetie, and so does your mama, God rest her soul."

Annie smiled as they came into view. Immediately, her eyes locked with Randy's. She felt her eyes watering as she walked at an all too slow pace toward her future. This man she was looking at, was her future. The father of the child inside her and the man of her dreams. She would happily and readily spend the rest of her days with him, raising their children. She'd willingly devote all of her love and life to that man…that wonderful, wonderful man.

Randy felt his nose tingle as she came forward. The sunlight that shone through the entrance doors outlined her form in such a way that made her resemble an angel. Her white veil hung delicately over her soft, smiling face. The strapless dress hugged perfectly around her chest (which thanks to the pregnancy, was beginning to grow larger), and clung lightly to her abdomen, concealing the very tiny bulge that was beginning to form. It came out from her waist like a bell, and it swayed lightly from side to side with each step that she took. It seemed like an eternity before she and Tim finally stood before the alter.

"Who gives away this woman on this day?" The reverend asked.

Tim smiled down at his daughter one last time before answering, "I do," he replied before bending down and kissing his beloved daughter on the cheek and taking his seat with the rest of the audience at the reverend's request.

The reverend gave a small, traditional sermon about the union of two people and their bond to one another as Randy and Annie stared into each other's eyes and silently agreed to his words. Before they knew it, the vows were being spoken.

"Do you, Breanne Elizabeth Davis, take this man to be your lawful wedded husband? Do you promise to love, honor, and cherish him through sickness and health. For richer or poorer, until death do you part?"

At those words, two tears of joy ran down her face, "I do," she said as Randy was handed the ring and he slipped it onto her finger.

"Do you, Randy Keith Orton, take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife? Do you promise to lover, honor, and cherish her through sickness and health. For richer or poorer, until death do you part?"

He looked into her deep blue eyes and knew he would fulfill his promise, "I do," he smiled as she placed the ring on his finger.

The reverend then asked if there was anyone who thought that for any reason these two should not be joined together to speak now or forever hold their piece. When no answer came, he continued, "What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. I now pronounce you man and wife," he turned to Randy, "You may kiss the bride."

Randy didn't hesitate as he lifted her veil and kissed her softly, lovingly…at first. He then pulled her harshly toward him and kissed her hard and passionately as he dipped her for the crowd. They laughed against each other's lips as the guests burst out into cheers, the wrestling portion whooping with delight at their fellow superstar.

~The reception~

Randy and Annie sliced the cake and held a small piece up to each other. Randy was a perfect gentleman and fed her the piece of cake neatly and sweetly. Annie, on the other hand, surprised everyone when she smeared her piece all over Randy's face. Her laughter was cut short though, when Randy leaned over and kissed her, sharing his cake with her as he wiped his cheek off on her forehead.

Rose and Rene watched the antics of their newlywed friends before locking eyes, just as they had done throughout most of the ceremony. They got up simultaneously and moved to sit next to one another. Desperate for the others presence and in much need of a kiss and a hug. 

Neither of them knew what the future held and, at the moment, they didn't care. To both of them it was the fact that they were in love and happy together. Their young hearts had found a person worth loving and caring about. They would ride this thing out, and if they were to follow in the footsteps of Randy and Annie, then so be it. They would love each other forever if it were meant to be, but this was now, and they were content to love each other in the present. They would deal with the future as it came.

Soon, the wedding DJ announced that the bride and groom would now be having their dance. The lights dimmed as Annie and Randy made their way to the dance floor as Aerosmith's 'Angel' began to play.

I'm alone yeah I don't know if I can face the night

I'm in tears and the cryin that i do is for you 

I want your love let's break the wall between us 

Don't make it tough, I'll put away my pride 

Enough's enough, I've suffered and I've seen the light

You're my angel come and save me tonight 

You're my angel come and make it alright 

You're my angel come and save me tonight 

~~"Annie, do remember the first time we danced to this song?" Randy whispered in her ear as they danced slowly to their song.~~

Don't know what I'm gonna do about thins feeling inside 

Yes, it's true loneliness took me for a ride 

Without your love, I'm nothin but a beggar 

Without your love, a dog without a bone 

What can I do, I'm sleepin in this bed alone 

You're my angel come and save me tonight 

You're my angel come and make it alright 

You're my angel come and save me tonight 

~~"Of course I remember. I loved you then, and I love you now. However, I wouldn't have admitted it then," she laughed softly into his shoulder.~~

You're the reason I live 

You're the reason I die 

You're the reason I give when I break down and cry 

Don't need no reason why 

Baby, baby, baby 

You're my angel come and save me tonight 

You're my angel come and make it alright 

~~"Annie, I'm going to give you everything you deserve. I'm going to spoil you rotten. We're going to build the house of our dreams and go to Disney World every year with our children."

Annie smiled up at her husband sweetly, "Randy, do you think we're going to live happily ever after?"

Randy looked down into her eyes, and smiled warmly, "Annie, I **_know_** we will."~~

……_and they **did** live happily ever after…_

The End

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Alright, the end is here. Do you want an epilogue? I can do that, if you want one. Anyway, give me those challenge fic ideas, and I'll tell you what I choose with the Epilogue, b/c I've just decided that I'm going to do one. You guys would like one, right? I hope so. 

Okay, there's one more thing I'd like to address in regard to this story. I'd just like to say that I'm not completely happy with it. I know it could have been better and I could have put in more conflict between Rose and Rene. However, a problem with that, other than the draft, is the fact that they are both so young. I mean, seriously. It would be somewhat unrealistic, in my opinion, to put them through something really serious like I did with Annie and Randy. I could have always put in an extra love interest, but then I couldn't think of it, and with this draft, man I would have been really screwed. So, I guess it worked out for the best. Well, whatever, I'll see you with the Epilogue which could quite possibly be out later tonight.

REVIEW!! MY HARD WORK DESERVES IT!! IT'S HARD TO WRITE AN ENDING TO A STORY WITH SUCH SHORT NOTICE!!! NOW GO REVIEW!! NOW DAMN IT!! COME ON!!! DON'T YOU LOVE ME??? PLEEEAAASSE!!

-Pammi


	20. Epilogue

Okay, and here it is. The Epilogue. Enjoy as you take the last look into the lives of Randy, Annie, Rose, and Rene.

Epilogue

September 15, 2004 St. Francis Hospital in St. Louis.

"Come on Annie, just one more push. That's it, one big puuuuuuusssshhh!!" the nurse coached Annie as she gave the final push that brought she and Randy's babies into the world. 

Annie began to weep as she heard cries escape from the mouths of her newborn twins. "Looks like we've got one girl and one boy. Dad, would like to do the honors?"

Randy couldn't keep the tears from his eyes as he walked over and cut the babies free from their umbilical cords. When the babies were finally cleaned and wrapped in soft blankets, a very tired, but happy Annie was handed her babies. Randy let her hold them both for a fraction of a second before giving her the puppy dog eyes and taking his son into his arms.

"I'm glad we thought of names for both of them," Annie smiled, tears in her eyes.

"Me too," Randy swallowed the lump in his throat as he looked down into the faces of their children. 

"Oh God, Randy. Look at what we've created. They're perfect," she began to cry.

"Thank you, Annie. Thank you for all of this," Randy bent down and kissed her forehead, "Are you feeling okay? Are you in any pain, baby?"

"No. How can I feel anything other than happiness right now?" she smiled up at him.

"It was nice of Vince to give us a few months together with them before we have to get back to work, huh? You'll get to work from home, and I'll fly home every Monday night."

"Yah," Annie paused and looked up at him, "Randy?"

"What is it, honey?"

"It's strange, but…I love them so much, and I've just met them."

"I know, sweetie. Me too."

~Meanwhile~

Rene and Rose burst through the hospital doors and ran toward Annie's father, "Tim! Did we make it in time?" Rene called from the entrance.

Tim smiled at the young couple, "Well, she just delivered. They're in there right now."

Rose ran up to him, "Was it a boy or a girl?"

"Both," he cracked a happy smile, "They had twins."

"I knew they were hiding something!" Rose exclaimed. She had noticed how large Annie had gotten during the last four months of her pregnancy, but for some reason the thought of them having twins had never crossed her mind. She had been too busy teasing Annie when she finally broke down and bought maternity clothes.

Rene smiled down at his girlfriend and took her hand in his, raising it to his mouth, he brushed a kiss over the promise ring that graced her left ring finger, "Calm down, sweetie. They probably just wanted to surprise everyone."

"I know, but I wish I had known so I could have bought both boy and girl baby clothes for her baby shower. I thought it was odd that she didn't care what type of clothes we bought. She knew it wouldn't matter."

"Yup. That's my girl. Always clever!" Tim laughed.

Bob and Elaine Orton smiled at Tim and opened their mouths to say something, but then saw the doctor coming and instead turned all of their attention to him. "Well, can we go see them or not?" Bob asked.

"Yes, but only two at a time."

Tim gestured toward the Orton's to go ahead and go first. When they emerged with happy grins on their faces, Rene and Rose forced Tim to go in next. Finally, when it was their turn, Rose wrapped her arms around Rene's waist and together they walked to see the two miracles that had been brought into this world by two of the best people they knew.

Upon entering the room, Rose's jaw dropped and she let out an "Aaaaaawwww. Oh my gosh, you two. They're beautiful!"

They both made it over to where the twins were being held by mommy and daddy. "What did you name them?" Rene was the first to ask.

Annie smiled down at the little boy cradled in her arms, "This is Dominic Nathaniel Orton," she said as she held him up toward Rose, "You want to hold him?"

"Yes! Most definitely!" Rose said as she eagerly, yet gently took the baby into her arms and cradled him to her. "Hi there, little Dominic. I'm Rose, you're aunt."

Randy and Annie exchanged pleased glances at Rose's claim of aunt-hood to the infant, Dominic. Rose looked up at them, "What did you name my niece?" she gestured to the bundle that Randy held in his arms.

Randy smiled a proud, fatherly smile, "This is Elizabeth Nicole Davis. She's named after Annie's mother," Randy informed.

Rene smiled approvingly, then a bit nervously, "Can I, you know, hold her?"

Randy grinned, "Sure." Randy handed the baby over to the younger man, "Careful, now," he said as he placed the baby in Rene's arms.

Rose looked over at Rene. He looked almost comical holding the baby at first, then he relaxed into it almost immediately. He smiled down at the little girl and touched her chubby, red cheek. Little Elizabeth smiled at him then, and Rene felt his heart melt. 'I want one…' he whined inside his head to himself.

Rose saw that look on his face and laughed softly, "You look a little boy in a pet store," she teased. Annie and Randy laughed and Rene felt embarrassed and blushed slightly, but stopped when Rose winked at him, letting him know she was only joking. 

Eventually Rose and Rene placed the babies back into the arms of their parents. "We'd better get going. You guys could probably use some quiet time. When do you get to leave?"

Annie took a deep contented breath, "We're not sure yet. Probably in a few days."

"Well let us know, okay? You guys still haven't had a house warming party yet," Rose smiled.

Randy looked up from his son's sleeping face, "It just got finished a week ago," he shrugged. "We wanted to wait until the babies got home-"

His words were cut short and Rene and Rose's departure was halted when four more people entered the room, "So, where are those future WWE superstars?"

"Paul, Stephanie, Ric, Dave…I'm glad you guys made it!" Randy beamed.

"We jumped on a plane together as soon as we heard you went into labor, Annie," Stephanie explained. "I knew you were getting big, but none of us even considered you could be pregnant with twins!"

"I know. I wanted to surprise everyone. What can I say? It was my pregnancy hormones that made me lie, honest."

What used to be Evolution laughed quietly at Annie's little jest, then crowded around to see the twins. All of the friends lingered there until they had all wished the new parents and their children well. Stephanie and Paul announced that there was a little Levesque on the way, while Dave informed them that he and his wife Angie were going to have to try and "Make some of these."

Ric claimed that he had raised enough children and that since they hadn't produced any grandchildren, he was claiming the twins as surrogate grandbabies. Randy and Annie laughed, and announced that Paul and Stephanie were the Godparents of their children.

Rose and Rene were the last to leave. Rose gave Annie a gentle, but firm hug, "Take care and get some rest, okay?"

"Don't worry, I plan on sleeping very well tonight," Annie confirmed.

Rene and Randy exchanged handshakes and a slight (but manly, lol.) hug.

~~~

Later that night, everyone slept peacefully. The twins, Dominic and Elizabeth slept quietly in the nursery at St. Francis while their parents slept snuggly in the twin sized hospital bed in the room across the hall. The two young parents were determined to pass their love on to their children just as they did to one another. 

In a nearby hotel, Rose and Rene lay in each other's arms facing inward toward each other. Their love had prospered so far throughout the months. Sure, they fought but it was rarely, and they always reconciled immediately afterwards. Rene had promised himself to her, and the symbol of his promise, that Rose wore around her finger, gleamed slightly in the dim lights that came in through the window.

While the world would change over the course of many years, and the future lay unknown, a few things were destined never to change. The friendships that had been formed remained strong and firmly rooted and the love that was found was never lost. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, not much of an epilogue, but at least you got some of your questions answered. Wow, I can't believe how quick I wrote this, lmao. Well, it looks like I still haven't figured out what I'm going to write next. When I figure it out, I'll post it on my website or you can just wait for my new story, lol. (go to the website…) 

Anyway, there it is. You know, this is a good way to pass the time between Seven and eight. I hate the anticipation that's growing because of this damn draft thing…arg!! I can't take the pressure!!!

I BETTER GET REVIEWS FOR THIS AND THE LAST CHAPTER!! DON'T BE A SLACKER!! REVIEW THEM BOTH!!

-Pammi

P.S. Peace out, ya'll. Until my next fiction! (you probably won't have to wait long, lol, or you could just visit my website, lmao. I'll probably have more time to update that now. Well, until I start my next story anyway. Well, that's all.

DISCLAIMER: (I don't think it has to be anywhere specific, but here it is): I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING WWE, AEROSMITH, THE ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL, DISTURBED, OR ANY OTHER BAND, CORPORATION, ETC. I ONLY OWN THE CHARACTERS I CREATED: ANNIE, ROSE, TIM, ELIABETH (Annie's mom), DOMINIC, AND ELIZABETH NICOLE. ALSO, ANYTHING ELSE THAT DOESN'T BELONG TO ME, I DON'T OWN THAT EITHER, OS THERE. NOW, HAVE A NICE DAY!


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